1
Honest take: what's the hardest part about being a student at Whetstone Elementary?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
711
Elementary
DISTRICT 514 · STATE 481
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·MONTGOMERY COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS·NCES 240048000953
Whetstone Elementary
19201 Thomas Farm Rd, Gaithersburg, MD 20879 · (240) 740-1060 · Montgomery County
GRADES PK–05ELEMENTARY21-SUBURBTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL711 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
12.3:1
58 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 12.9:1 · STATE 13.8:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
56%
400 students
DISTRICT 40% · STATE 54%
Community
5
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other elementary schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-K | 78 | 11% |
| Kindergarten | 106 | 15% |
| Grade 1 | 105 | 15% |
| Grade 2 | 106 | 15% |
| Grade 3 | 102 | 14% |
| Grade 4 | 115 | 16% |
| Grade 5 | 99 | 14% |
Student demographics
60%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
39.0%
MD avg 50.6% . -8.7pp since 2023
Math
26.5%
MD avg 34.8% . -7.4pp since 2023
What this means: On the MCAP, Maryland's statewide test, about 39 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 27 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Maryland schools, those numbers are about 51 and 35. Reading and writing scores are down about 9 points since 2023, while math scores are down about 7 points.
MCAP results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 39.0% | 26.5% |
| 2023-24 | 47.7% | 33.9% |
% 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
AS EXPECTED
Performing as predicted given the school's student profile
Actual proficiency
36.8%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
40.9%
based on MD schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-4.2pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 37% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 41% typical for Maryland schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations measures results against demographically similar schools rather than by raw scores, and this school falls within the typical range, neither among Maryland's top nor bottom 10%.
BeatsExpectations runs a per-state regression of proficiency on free/reduced-lunch share, then scores each school by residual. How this is calculated →
Where Whetstone Elementary ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Maryland | In Montgomery County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 36.8% | #513 of 853 | #101 of 131 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 26.5% | #644 of 853 | #119 of 131 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 39.0% | #580 of 853 | #103 of 131 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 711 | #91 of 898 | #12 of 139 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 12.3:1 | #213 of 857 | #62 of 136 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 59.7% | #378 of 857 | #101 of 136 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 56.3% | #469 of 885 | #46 of 137 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -10.0% | #346 of 551 | #59 of 97 |
Ranked against other public elementary 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.
4-year change
SY 2020-21 vs SY 2024-25Enrollment
711
+18 (+3%) vs 2020
+9% since 1990-91, when it was 653
Student : Teacher
12.3:1
was 11.4:1
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 | 711 | 57.8 | 12.3:1 | 56% (400) |
| 2023-24 | 718 | 58.5 | 12.3:1 | 54% (388) |
| 2022-23 | 715 | 59.3 | 12.1:1 | 75% (536) |
| 2020-21 | 693 | 61 | 11.4:1 | 71% (490) |
| 2017-18 | 790 | 59.6 | 13.3:1 | 62% (487) |
| 2015-16 | 788 | 57 | 13.8:1 | 61% (480) |
| 2010-11 | 639 | 49 | 13.0:1 | 56% (357) |
| 2000-01 | 590 | 35 | 16.9:1 | 39% (230) |
| 1990-91 | 653 | 31 | 21.1:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Whetstone Elementary.
About Whetstone Elementary
Whetstone Elementary is a mid-sized elementary school in Gaithersburg, Maryland, (ZIP code 20879). Enrollment stands at 711 students, covering pre-K through 5. The school is 48% larger than the average for elementary schools in Maryland.
Whetstone Elementary sits within Montgomery County Public Schools, which has 208 schools and 159,181 students.
About 57% of the student body at Whetstone Elementary is Hispanic. Other groups make up 26% Black, 8% Asian, 6% White, and 3% multiracial. County-wide, 21% of Montgomery County residents are Hispanic. A diversity index of 60% means there is a 60% chance two randomly chosen students at Whetstone Elementary are from different groups.
Its ratio of 12.3:1 is based on 57.8 full-time-equivalent teachers. Statewide, elementary schools in Maryland average 13.8:1. The share of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch is 56%. On average, public schools in Montgomery County report 40%.
Predicted from its free or reduced-price lunch share, Whetstone Elementary would score about 40.9%. It scores 36.8%, 4.2 points below that figure.
In the surrounding county, Montgomery County, median household income comes to about $132,450, a bachelor's degree or higher is held by about 61% of adults, and the share of residents below the poverty line is 5%. The county's public schools total 211, with about 159,181 students.
Of the public schools around it, Whetstone Elementary is closest to Montgomery Village Middle, about 0.7 miles away. Inside a five-mile radius, there are at least 8 other public schools. Whetstone Elementary is 2nd of 9 nearby schools by average proficiency rate.
Federal data place Whetstone Elementary in the Suburb: Large locale, which means it is in a suburban area outside a principal city, within an urbanized area with a population of 250,000 or more.
In 2020-21, Whetstone Elementary enrolled 693 students. By 2024-25, that number had grown to 711.
Parents, students, and staff can share information on pickup and drop-off, after-school programs, and teacher feedback here. Members of the school community can share what they know.
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
- Walter Johnson HighHigh · 3,016 students
- Wheaton HighHigh · 2,794 students
- Gaithersburg HighHigh · 2,441 students
- Seneca Valley HighHigh · 2,409 students
- Bethesda-Chevy Chase HighHigh · 2,377 students
Other schools in Gaithersburg
- Gaithersburg HighHigh · 2,441 students
- Quince Orchard HighHigh · 2,100 students
- Watkins Mill HighHigh · 1,577 students
- Lakelands Park MiddleMiddle · 993 students
- Gaithersburg MiddleMiddle · 869 students
- Forest Oak MiddleMiddle · 828 students
Nearby schools
- Montgomery Village Middle0.7 mi · 780
- Stedwick Elementary0.8 mi · 492
- Watkins Mill Elementary0.8 mi · 734
- Strawberry Knoll Elementary0.9 mi · 448
- South Lake Elementary1.1 mi · 746
- Watkins Mill High1.3 mi · 1,577
Frequently asked questions
About Whetstone ElementaryHow large is Whetstone Elementary?
Whetstone Elementary enrolls approximately 711 students in grades PK-05.
What grades does Whetstone Elementary serve?
Whetstone Elementary serves grades PK-05.
How many students per teacher at Whetstone Elementary?
Approximately 12.3:1 students per teacher at Whetstone Elementary.
How diverse is Whetstone Elementary?
Whetstone Elementary reports a student body of 6% White, 57% Hispanic, 26% Black, 8% Asian, 3% Two or more.
Who oversees Whetstone Elementary?
Whetstone Elementary is overseen by Montgomery County Public Schools in Montgomery County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.