Two-Thirds of Montgomery County Schools Earn Four or Five Stars on the 2026 Maryland Report Card

Montgomery County Public Schools is reporting major gains on the 2026 Maryland School Report Card: 134 schools in the district, 67 percent of the total, earned four- or five-star ratings, the state's top two tiers. Thirty-six schools achieved five-star status and 98 earned four stars, 56 schools increased their star rating this year, and 50 schools entered the top two tiers for the first time — a transformation from just three years ago, when less than half of MCPS schools held four- or five-star ratings.

'In just a few years, we have gone from less than half of our schools with four or more STARs to more than two-thirds,' Superintendent Dr. Thomas W. Taylor said in the district's release. Board of Education President Grace Rivera-Oven said the results 'reflect the extraordinary hard work happening in our classrooms every single day,' while adding that 'our work is far from finished.' The district's Future Ready 2025-2030 Strategic Plan sets a benchmark of 100 percent of MCPS schools earning four stars or higher by 2030.

The gains were broad. The district counted 135 schools improved in literacy and 123 in math, with Albert Einstein High School leading the district in English language arts with a 20.9 percentage-point gain in proficiency, including a 27.9-point increase among Black and African American students, and Laytonsville Elementary School leading in math with a 15.5-point gain.

The celebration comes with a caveat for the years ahead. The state is set to revamp its rating system next year, giving more weight to how well schools help struggling students catch up, which means future ratings will not be comparable to the ones used now; Josh Michael, president of the Maryland State Board of Education, has said the current ratings are not much more than a proxy for family income. For this year, on the measure the state uses now, MCPS is having a good day.