1
What do you wish you knew before starting at Walter Johnson High?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
3,016
High
DISTRICT 2,003 · STATE 1,185
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·MONTGOMERY COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS·NCES 240048000942
Walter Johnson High
6400 Rock Spring Dr, Bethesda, MD 20814 · (240) 740-6900 · Montgomery County
GRADES 09–12HIGH13-CITYREGULAR SCHOOL3,016 STUDENTS
B
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 60% of Maryland public high schools
- A-Test scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- C-Beats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- ·Three-year trend Not available for this school, so the grade uses the other parts.
Grades compare a school only with schools in the same state, because every state gives its own test. How grades work · Top-graded Maryland public high schools
Student : Teacher
18.1:1
167 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 15.8:1 · STATE 15.3:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
20%
598 students
DISTRICT 40% · STATE 54%
Community
5
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other high schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Grade 9 | 805 | 27% |
| Grade 10 | 751 | 25% |
| Grade 11 | 719 | 24% |
| Grade 12 | 741 | 25% |
Student demographics
72%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 75% · STATE 73% · US 70%
Student head counts by race/ethnicity from federal NCES enrollment data. District, state, and US figures are each group's share of all public school students in that area (US excludes territories). Very small groups may be suppressed in the source, so categories do not always sum exactly to total enrollment.
Gender split
Test scores
MCAP 2024-25 . % Proficient (Levels 3-4)English Language Arts
84.3%
MD avg 50.6% . +8.9pp since 2023
Math
16.1%
MD avg 34.8% . +0.9pp since 2023
What this means: On the MCAP, Maryland's statewide test, about 84 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 16 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Maryland schools, those numbers are about 51 and 35. Reading and writing scores are up about 9 points since 2023, while math scores have held steady.
MCAP results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 84.3% | 16.1% |
| 2023-24 | 75.4% | 15.2% |
% Proficient (Levels 3-4), all students and all tested grades.
Source: MCAP. All students, all grades. See all years and grades →
BeatsExpectations
Demographically-adjusted score · methodologyTier
UNDERPERFORMING
Bottom 10% of MD schools after controlling for student poverty
Actual proficiency
47.8%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
62.5%
based on MD schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-14.7pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 48% of students here test proficient in math and reading, below the roughly 62% typical for Maryland schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations compares each school with others at the same poverty level, not by raw scores, so a school lands here when its results trail those comparable schools, which is not the same as having low scores. A higher-scoring school can still fall in this tier if similar schools score higher still.
BeatsExpectations runs a per-state regression of proficiency on free/reduced-lunch share, then scores each school by residual. How this is calculated →
Schools most like Walter Johnson High
Walter Johnson High's state test result (47.8% proficient) is higher than 2 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Walter Johnson High this school | 3,016 | 19.8% | 47.8% |
| Bethesda-Chevy Chase High Bethesda | 2,377 | 23.9% | 44.0% |
| Sherwood High Sandy Spring | 1,675 | 22.4% | 46.5% |
| Crofton High School Gambrills | 1,906 | 17.3% | 55.1% |
| Oakdale High Ijamsville | 1,702 | 17.6% | 55.9% |
| Urbana High Ijamsville | 1,989 | 16.5% | 66.9% |
Matched among Maryland high schools on enrollment, the share of students from low-income families (eligible for free or reduced-price lunch), and racial and ethnic makeup. Proficient is the average share of students meeting the state standard across all of the school's state tests in 2023-24 and 2024-25, the same combined score our test-score rankings use. Online schools and schools serving specialized populations are not matched.
Where Walter Johnson High ranks
Among high schools| Measure | This school | In Maryland | In Montgomery County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 47.8% | #37 of 203 | #5 of 25 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 16.1% | #57 of 206 ▲ 14 | #6 of 25 ▼ 1 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 84.3% | #23 of 206 ▲ 7 | #5 of 25 ▲ 1 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 3,016 | #2 of 234 | #2 of 26 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 18.1:1 | #171 of 210 | #22 of 25 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 71.6% | #24 of 211 | #7 of 25 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 19.8% | #193 of 212 | #21 of 25 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +21.9% | #33 of 131 | #3 of 18 |
Ranked against other public high schools. Online schools are left out of every list, and test-score lists leave out schools that serve specialized populations. Each rank links to the full list. Arrows under a test-score rank show places moved since the prior test year, among schools tested both years.
4-year change
SY 2020-21 vs SY 2024-25Enrollment
3,016
+196 (+7%) vs 2020
+134% since 1990-91, when it was 1,291
Student : Teacher
18.1:1
was 18.9:1
Source: NCES Common Core of Data
Enrollment and staffing by year
| School year | Students | Teachers (FTE) | Students per teacher | Free and reduced lunch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 3,016 | 166.6 | 18.1:1 | 20% (598) |
| 2023-24 | 2,984 | 159.2 | 18.7:1 | 18% (544) |
| 2022-23 | 2,942 | 158.3 | 18.6:1 | 18% (541) |
| 2020-21 | 2,820 | 149 | 18.9:1 | 11% (297) |
| 2017-18 | 2,475 | 134.6 | 18.4:1 | 8% (191) |
| 2015-16 | 2,289 | 125 | 18.3:1 | 7% (162) |
| 2010-11 | 2,150 | 126 | 17.1:1 | 7% (153) |
| 2000-01 | 1,654 | 104 | 15.9:1 | 4% (64) |
| 1990-91 | 1,291 | 71 | 18.2:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Walter Johnson High.
Since 2017-18: students up 22% (2,475 to 3,016); teachers up 24% (134.6 to 166.6).
About Walter Johnson High
In Bethesda, Maryland, Walter Johnson High is a large high school. Total enrollment is 3,016 students, and the grades served are 9 through 12. That is 155% bigger than the average of about 1,185 students for high schools in Maryland.
Walter Johnson High is among 208 schools run by Montgomery County Public Schools, which serves 159,181 students.
The largest group at Walter Johnson High is White students, at 45%. The remaining students are 19% Hispanic, 16% Black, 13% Asian, and 7% multiracial. Census estimates put Montgomery County at about 42% White, close to the school's figure. On the diversity index, which measures the chance that two random students are from different groups, Walter Johnson High scores 72%.
There are 166.6 full-time-equivalent teachers at Walter Johnson High, giving a ratio of 18.1:1. By comparison, the average for high schools in Maryland is 15.3:1. A total of 598 students, or 20%, are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That is lower than the 40% average for public schools in Montgomery County.
Among Maryland public high schools, Walter Johnson High outscored 60%, which works out to a B on the allk12 Grade.
The BeatsExpectations model predicts 62.5% for Walter Johnson High, given its share of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. The actual figure is 47.8%. The 14.7-point gap ranks in the bottom 10% of Maryland schools.
In Montgomery County, home to about 1,065,949 people, median household income comes to about $132,450, 61% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and about 5% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Montgomery County's 211 public schools enroll about 159,181 students and include Walter Johnson High.
Ashburton Elementary is about 0.5 miles from Walter Johnson High, the shortest distance to any other public school. Other public schools within five miles: at least 8. The nearest schools with test data average 61.5%, higher than Walter Johnson High's 47.8%.
Walter Johnson High falls in the City: Small locale category, used for schools inside a principal city with a population under 100,000.
Enrollment increased 7% over 4 years, reaching 3,016 in 2024-25.
The allk12 page for Walter Johnson High lets the school community talk about athletics, class schedules, and weather closures. You can also rate the school on this page.
Montgomery County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
1,065,949
Census ACS
Median income
$132,450
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
61%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
5%
Below federal line
Schools in county
211
159,181 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Montgomery County Public Schools
- Montgomery Blair HighHigh · 3,266 students
- Wheaton HighHigh · 2,794 students
- Gaithersburg HighHigh · 2,441 students
- Seneca Valley HighHigh · 2,409 students
- Bethesda-Chevy Chase HighHigh · 2,377 students
- Richard Montgomery HighHigh · 2,366 students
Other schools in Bethesda
- Bethesda-Chevy Chase HighHigh · 2,377 students
- Walt Whitman HighHigh · 2,056 students
- Thomas W. Pyle MiddleMiddle · 1,259 students
- North Bethesda MiddleMiddle · 1,224 students
- Ashburton ElementaryElementary · 871 students
- Westland MiddleMiddle · 839 students
Nearby schools
- Ashburton Elementary0.5 mi · 871
- Northwood High0.9 mi · 1,654
- Rock Terrace School1.1 mi · 77
- Tilden Middle1.1 mi · 1,112
- Wyngate Elementary1.1 mi · 640
- Luxmanor Elementary1.3 mi · 684
Frequently asked questions
About Walter Johnson HighWhat is the total enrollment at Walter Johnson High?
Walter Johnson High enrolls approximately 3,016 students in grades 09-12.
What grades does Walter Johnson High serve?
Walter Johnson High serves grades 09-12.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Walter Johnson High?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Walter Johnson High is approximately 18.1:1 (167 FTE teachers).
How diverse is Walter Johnson High?
Walter Johnson High reports a student body of 45% White, 19% Hispanic, 16% Black, 13% Asian, 7% Two or more.
Is Walter Johnson High public or private?
Walter Johnson High is a public K-12 school, overseen by Montgomery County Public Schools.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.