Harford County Public Schools (HCPS) is an American public school system serving the residents of Harford County, Maryland. HCPS is the 8th largest school district in Maryland and home to 9 Maryland Blue Ribbon and 6 National Blue Ribbon Schools. HCPS has about 39,000 students, 5,700 employees, 2,142 classrooms and 55 schools. HCPS is ranked as the #2 best school district in the Baltimore area and is ranked an A− by Niche. HCPS is also ranked #1 in Maryland for athletics, #3 for best teachers, and #5 best places to teach.
The school district and county have identical boundaries.[3]
Schools
Elementary schools
There are thirty-three elementary schools in Harford County. Homestead-Wakefield and Old Post Road Elementary schools are two-building campuses housing primary students (Kindergarten-2nd Grade) in one building and intermediate students (3rd Grade-5th Grade) in the other building.[4] Homestead-Wakefield Elementary school is in the process of being rebuilt as a single-building campus. Youth's Benefit Elementary school was formerly a two-building campus, but was rebuilt as a single-building campus in 2014.
Three HCPS high schools also have or are preparing for magnet programs. Although the Science and Mathematics Academy is a separate institution, it is hosted by and shares some facilities with Aberdeen High School, and Harford Technical High School is in itself a magnet school for academic and technical programs. Edgewood High School is in the beginning stages of the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme, in which the school will offer college-preparatory courses for its students, who will graduate with an internationally recognized high school diploma. .[8]
The images below outline the elementary and middle schools that feed students into each high school. Harford Technical is fed by students from each school, as entry is by application. The feeder system is not all-inclusive, due to magnet programs at Aberdeen, Edgewood, and Joppatowne.