When each school began to plan their important work based on AACPS’s 2018-2023 Strategic Plan during the spring of 2018, school teams reflected on their school culture, their community, and the key factors contributing to student achievement.  Each school was then asked to consider which Strategic Plan Indicators would have the greatest positive impact for their students. School leadership teams selected indicators and developed plans to focus and guide their efforts.  Please come with us on our journey as we describe why, what, and how we do our work to serve our students and families of our school.

Maryland City Elementary proudly serves students in pre-kindergarten through fifth grades in Laurel, Maryland. It is a mid-sized Title I community school located in the Maryland City neighborhood, and was built in 1963 to accommodate the growing community. Over the past 56 years, Maryland City has welcomed families from around the world.  Because of this, more than half of the student population speak languages other than standard English. Approximately 40% of the students are learning English as their second, third, fourth, or fifth language. These diverse students function as a valuable resource to all Maryland City Elementary students by providing world-relevant perspectives, which adds to our culturally-rich learning environment. 

The Maryland City population is very transient with new students enrolling on a regular basis. As a result, our mobility rate is presently 37%. Our wonderfully diverse student population comprises of students from approximately 22 nations and four continents. Spanish translators are available for parents at conferences, meetings, and school events due to our large Hispanic population. Moreover, all documents that are sent home are translated from English to Spanish to maintain open lines of communication. In addition, our bilingual facilitator interacts daily with parents to develop strong community ties.