Stevens Forest Elementary vs Swansfield Elementary

Stevens Forest Elementary and Swansfield Elementary sit 2.5 miles apart in Columbia, Maryland, but their state rankings tell a sharply different story. Stevens Forest Elementary ranks #63 of 1,363 Maryland elementary schools — a strong result by any measure — yet Swansfield Elementary ranks #12 of 1,363, placing it in the top 1% statewide. The overall rating gap is 0.5 points, with Swansfield Elementary at 9.4/10 against Stevens Forest Elementary's 8.9/10. Both schools serve PK–05, so the comparison is apples-to-apples across the same grade span.

Academically, Swansfield Elementary scores 8.7/10 versus Stevens Forest Elementary's 8.2/10 — a half-point delta that mirrors the overall gap. The growth story favors Swansfield more sharply: Swansfield Elementary posts a 9.9/10 growth score against Stevens Forest Elementary's 9.3/10, a 0.6-point difference suggesting students at Swansfield are advancing at an exceptionally high rate relative to their starting points. A growth score of 9.9 is near the ceiling for any school in the state.

The two schools diverge considerably on demographics and size. Stevens Forest Elementary enrolls 328 students — roughly half the size of Swansfield Elementary's 602. Stevens Forest Elementary's free and reduced-price lunch rate is 58%, compared to 40% at Swansfield Elementary, indicating Stevens Forest serves a higher proportion of economically disadvantaged families. Stevens Forest Elementary also carries a slightly lower student-teacher ratio: 10.9:1 versus Swansfield Elementary's 11.6:1, meaning each teacher at Stevens Forest is responsible for fewer students on average.

Both schools serve the same grade span — PK through 5th — and operate within the same Howard County district, so programmatic offerings and curriculum frameworks are largely parallel. The meaningful distinctions are quantitative: Swansfield Elementary's commanding state rank of #12 and near-perfect growth score reflect outcomes that Stevens Forest Elementary, while genuinely strong at #63, does not currently match. Stevens Forest Elementary's smaller enrollment and lower student-teacher ratio provide a more intimate classroom environment, a trade-off that matters to some families independent of aggregate rankings.