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What do you wish you knew before starting at William H. Farquhar Middle?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
682
Middle
DISTRICT 888 · STATE 764
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·MONTGOMERY COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS·NCES 240048000957
William H. Farquhar Middle
17017 Batchellors Forest Rd, Olney, MD 20832 · (240) 740-1200 · Montgomery County
GRADES 06–08MIDDLE21-SUBURBREGULAR SCHOOL682 STUDENTS
B+
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 74% of Maryland public middle schools
- A-Test scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- BBeats 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 middle schools
Student : Teacher
15.8:1
43 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 14.5:1 · STATE 14.3:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
28%
189 students
DISTRICT 40% · STATE 54%
Community
5
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other middle schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Grade 6 | 233 | 34% |
| Grade 7 | 207 | 30% |
| Grade 8 | 242 | 35% |
Student demographics
76%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
73.5%
MD avg 50.6% . +8.8pp since 2023
Math
37.3%
MD avg 34.8% . +2.5pp since 2023
What this means: On the MCAP, Maryland's statewide test, about 74 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 37 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 are up about 3 points.
MCAP results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 73.5% | 37.3% |
| 2023-24 | 64.7% | 34.8% |
% 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
52.6%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
57.8%
based on MD schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-5.2pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 53% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 58% 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 →
Schools most like William H. Farquhar Middle
William H. Farquhar Middle's state test result (52.6% proficient) is higher than 2 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| William H. Farquhar Middle this school | 682 | 27.7% | 52.6% |
| Silver Creek Middle Kensington | 751 | 32.6% | 52.6% |
| Bonnie Branch Middle Ellicott City | 739 | 29.2% | 49.6% |
| Hammond Middle Laurel | 604 | 16.4% | 54.8% |
| Westland Middle Bethesda | 839 | 17.5% | 67.3% |
| Mayfield Woods Middle Elkridge | 731 | 40.1% | 38.7% |
Matched among Maryland middle 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 William H. Farquhar Middle ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In Maryland | In Montgomery County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 52.6% | #53 of 223 | #13 of 40 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 37.3% | #56 of 223 ▼ 6 | #15 of 40 ▼ 2 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 73.5% | #36 of 223 ▲ 16 | #9 of 40 ▲ 4 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 682 | #147 of 230 | #36 of 40 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 15.8:1 | #163 of 225 | #30 of 40 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 76.3% | #2 of 225 | #2 of 40 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 27.7% | #180 of 227 | #30 of 40 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -3.0% | #108 of 123 | #18 of 21 |
Ranked against other public middle 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
682
+11 (+2%) vs 2020
-32% since 1990-91, when it was 996
Student : Teacher
15.8:1
was 14.9:1
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 | 682 | 43.2 | 15.8:1 | 28% (189) |
| 2023-24 | 646 | 45.8 | 14.1:1 | 30% (191) |
| 2022-23 | 674 | 40.6 | 16.6:1 | 31% (212) |
| 2020-21 | 671 | 45 | 14.9:1 | 21% (139) |
| 2017-18 | 703 | 44 | 16.0:1 | 14% (100) |
| 2015-16 | 595 | 39 | 15.3:1 | 12% (74) |
| 2010-11 | 635 | 40 | 15.9:1 | 12% (79) |
| 2000-01 | 690 | 44 | 15.7:1 | 12% (85) |
| 1990-91 | 996 | 60 | 16.6:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for William H. Farquhar Middle.
Since 2017-18: students down 3% (703 to 682); teachers down 2% (44 to 43.2).
About William H. Farquhar Middle
William H. Farquhar Middle is a middle-grades school in Olney, Maryland, according to federal school records. Total enrollment is 682 students, and the grades served are 6 through 8.
Enrollment across the 208 schools in Montgomery County Public Schools totals 159,181 students.
About 33% of students at William H. Farquhar Middle are White, the largest single group. The school is also 24% Black, 23% Hispanic, 10% Asian, and 9% multiracial. The White share of the county population is higher, at 42%. On a 0 to 100 scale, the school's diversity index is 76, compared with 70 nationally.
William H. Farquhar Middle has a student-to-teacher ratio of 15.8:1, with 43.2 full-time-equivalent teachers. The average for middle schools in Maryland is 14.3:1, so this school has more students per teacher. A common income measure, free or reduced-price lunch eligibility, is 28% at William H. Farquhar Middle. Public schools in Montgomery County average 40%.
William H. Farquhar Middle earns a B+ on the allk12 Grade, which blends test scores, results against poverty-based expectations, and the three-year trend. It scored higher than 74% of Maryland public middle schools.
William H. Farquhar Middle posts an average proficiency rate across its state test results of 52.6%, compared with a predicted 57.8%. It is not in the top or bottom 10% of Maryland schools on BeatsExpectations.
Looking at the county, Montgomery County, the median household earns about $132,450 a year, the share of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher is 61%, and about 5% of people live in poverty. Counting William H. Farquhar Middle, Montgomery County has 211 public schools.
Sherwood Elementary is about 1.1 miles from William H. Farquhar Middle, the shortest distance to any other public school. A five-mile radius around the school includes at least 8 other public schools. On state test proficiency, William H. Farquhar Middle ranks 5th in a group of 9 nearby schools.
The school is in a suburban area outside a principal city, within an urbanized area with a population of 250,000 or more, according to its NCES locale (Suburb: Large).
Enrollment went from 671 in 2020-21 to 682 in 2024-25, a change of 11 students.
This community page is for conversations about fundraisers, report cards, and school supplies. Teachers and staff are welcome to share updates too.
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 Olney
- Rosa M. Parks MiddleMiddle · 863 students
- Olney ElementaryElementary · 585 students
- Brooke Grove ElementaryElementary · 390 students
- Belmont ElementaryElementary · 343 students
Nearby schools
- Sherwood Elementary1.1 mi · 498
- Brooke Grove Elementary1.5 mi · 390
- Sherwood High1.6 mi · 1,675
- Olney Elementary1.6 mi · 585
- James Hubert Blake High2.0 mi · 1,960
- Cashell Elementary2.3 mi · 386
Frequently asked questions
About William H. Farquhar MiddleHow many students attend William H. Farquhar Middle?
William H. Farquhar Middle enrolls approximately 682 students in grades 06-08.
Is William H. Farquhar Middle an elementary, middle, or high school?
William H. Farquhar Middle is a middle school covering grades 06-08.
How many teachers does William H. Farquhar Middle have?
William H. Farquhar Middle employs 43 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 15.8:1.
How diverse is William H. Farquhar Middle?
William H. Farquhar Middle reports a student body of 33% White, 23% Hispanic, 24% Black, 10% Asian, 9% Two or more.
Who oversees William H. Farquhar Middle?
William H. Farquhar Middle 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.