North Bend Elementary/Middle vs Oliver Beach Elementary

Oliver Beach Elementary ranks #33 of 1,363 schools in Maryland, placing it among the top 3% statewide. North Bend Elementary/Middle sits at #206 — still a strong top-15% showing — but the 173-position gap reflects a meaningful overall rating difference: Oliver Beach scores 9.2/10 against North Bend's 8.3/10, a 0.9-point margin that compresses an array of academic and demographic differences into a single number parents can quickly compare.

On academics, Oliver Beach Elementary holds a 9.3/10 academic score versus North Bend Elementary/Middle's 8.3/10 — a full point separating these two Baltimore schools. North Bend partially closes the gap on growth, earning a 9.8/10 growth score to Oliver Beach's 9.5/10, meaning the students North Bend enrolls are making slightly faster academic progress year-over-year than their peers at Oliver Beach. For families weighing current achievement level against demonstrated student growth, that 0.3-point growth edge at North Bend is the most notable counter-argument to Oliver Beach's otherwise superior profile.

North Bend Elementary/Middle enrolls 453 students across its PK–8 span at a 14.2:1 student-teacher ratio; Oliver Beach Elementary serves 149 students through grade 5 at a tighter 13.5:1 ratio. The free and reduced-price lunch population differs sharply — 78% at North Bend versus 43% at Oliver Beach — indicating substantially different socioeconomic compositions. That gap matters both for understanding each school's raw achievement context and for anticipating peer environment and resource allocation.

North Bend's PK–8 configuration gives families a single school from pre-K through eighth grade, eliminating a middle school transition entirely. Oliver Beach Elementary stops at grade 5, requiring families to navigate a separate middle school placement after fifth grade. The two schools sit 19.7 miles apart, so a switch between them is a genuine logistical commitment, not a neighborhood convenience decision.