Armistead Gardens Elementary/Middle vs Fort Garrison Elementary

Fort Garrison Elementary ranks #26 of 1,363 Maryland schools against Armistead Gardens Elementary/Middle at #61 of 1,363 — a 35-position gap that reflects a meaningful difference in overall performance despite both schools sitting comfortably in the top 5% statewide. Fort Garrison Elementary edges ahead overall at 9.3/10 versus Armistead Gardens Elementary/Middle at 9.0/10, a 0.3-point gap driven almost entirely by academic proficiency rather than any systemic quality difference between the two campuses.

On academics, the delta is sharp: Fort Garrison Elementary scores 9.9/10 versus Armistead Gardens Elementary/Middle's 8.6/10 — 1.3 points separating the two on raw proficiency. The growth picture flips entirely. Armistead Gardens Elementary/Middle posts a 9.9/10 growth score against Fort Garrison Elementary's 9.1/10, meaning students at Armistead Gardens are advancing faster relative to their starting points even as Fort Garrison students test at higher absolute levels. Parents weighing current proficiency against year-over-year momentum will find these two schools pulling in opposite directions on those dimensions.

Armistead Gardens Elementary/Middle enrolls 767 students compared to Fort Garrison Elementary's 286 — nearly three times the population — and serves a dramatically different income profile: 74% of students qualify for free or reduced lunch at Armistead Gardens versus 22% at Fort Garrison. Armistead Gardens actually achieves a slightly better student-teacher ratio at 12.6:1 versus Fort Garrison's 13.6:1, which makes its strong growth numbers more notable given the higher proportion of students who typically require additional academic support.

The two schools also diverge on grade span. Armistead Gardens Elementary/Middle runs PK through 8th grade, keeping students in a single building through middle school and eliminating one school transition entirely. Fort Garrison Elementary tops out at 5th grade, meaning families will navigate a separate middle school placement after elementary. The schools sit 10.4 miles apart, and at that distance, cross-enrollment is not a practical consideration — these are genuine neighborhood choices, not convenience alternatives to each other.