ACPS Demonstrates Positive Progress According to Maryland Report Card

Ninety-one percent of the district’ schools earned three or four stars ratings, according to Maryland Report Card data.

CUMBERLAND (October 29, 2026) – Allegany County Public Schools (ACPS) is pleased to share positive news about the district’s progress, as shown by today’s release of the 2026 Maryland Report Card by the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) for the 2025-2026 school year.

School Star Ratings

The Maryland Report Card provides state, district and school-level performance results, and it uses the Maryland Accountability System’s five-star scale to indicate school performance. Nearly 89 percent of public schools in Maryland earned three, four or five stars. In Allegany County, 91 percent of public schools earned three or four stars ratings.

• Forty-one percent of ACPS schools earned four stars: Beall, Bel Air, Cash Valley, Cresaptown, Frost, Mount Savage, Northeast, Parkside, and Westernport Elementary Schools. This represents a 14 percent increase over the previous year.
• Eighteen percent of schools increased their star ratings by one star: Beall, Bel Air, South Penn, and Westernport Elementary Schools. 
• All high schools (Allegany, Fort Hill, and Mountain Ridge) and the Center for Career & Technical Education earned three-star ratings. 

“These gains reflect meaningful progress across Allegany County Public Schools. The credit belongs to our administrators, educators, and support staff, whose hard work gives every ACPS student strong instruction and real opportunities to thrive,” said Superintendent Dr. Michael Martirano. “We are heartened to see improvements in our schools’ performance.”

Martirano added, “To build on this momentum and create lasting, positive change for Allegany County, our students must attend school consistently. Chronic absenteeism is the most pressing challenge facing our district: students who miss 10 or more days of school can fall as much as a year behind their peers in their learning. We are committed to working alongside families and the greater community to find solutions.”

Assessment Indicators 

School star ratings are based on multiple indicators, including non-academic measures. Elementary and middle school indicators are academic achievement, academic progress, progress in achieving English language proficiency, and school quality and student success. High school indicators include academic achievement, graduation rate, progress in achieving English language proficiency, readiness for postsecondary success, and school quality and student success. Schools earn between one and five stars based on the percentage of points earned across indicators.

In terms of points earned across assessment indicators, the district earned 62 percent of possible points at the elementary school level. ACPS earned 48 percent of points possible at the middle school level, and 58 percent of points at the high school level. 

ACPS saw improvements at the elementary level, where all four elementary indicators rose, including an increase in academic progress by 2.1 points. At the middle school level, academic progress and school quality and student success dipped by 1.4 to 1.7 points, and the district saw modest fluctuations at the high school level. 

View the Maryland Report Card 

The Maryland Report Card, including data sets for each public school, is available online at reportcard.msde.maryland.gov. Individuals may view Allegany County’s district report card or individual school report cards on the State’s site. The district will also link to individual school report cards on its school webpages, which may be accessed at acpsmd.org/schools.