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These are the best school districts and schools in Mass., according to Niche

The state's No. 1 school district is in Middlesex County.

Hopkinton High School. Facebook

September 29, 2023

Hopkinton, perhaps best known as the starting point for the Boston Marathon, just ran away with the title of best school district in Massachusetts.

A Mass. destination was named the most family-friendly city in America

Niche, which ranks schools and districts based on statistics and reviews, released a ranking of the best school districts in Massachusetts in 2024, and Hopkinton Public Schools topped the list. The district has 4,006 students with a student-teacher ratio of 14 to 1, according to the website, and 71% of students are proficient in math and 78% are proficient in reading.

Rounding out the top five best districts in the state are Weston Public Schools at No. 2, Public Schools of Brookline at No. 3, Dover-Sherborn Regional School District at No. 4, and Newton Public Schools at No. 5.

The best public high school in Massachusetts is the MA Academy for Math & Science School, a magnet school in Worcester, according to the Niche ranking. The tuition-free school is comprised of about 100 “academically accelerated” 11th and 12th grade students from the state.

Other high schools in the top five are: Lexington High School at No. 2, Weston High School at No. 3, Boston Latin School at No. 4, and Brookline High School at No. 5.

For middle schools, Weston Middle School topped the list, followed by Hopkinton Middle School at No. 2, Wayland Middle School at No. 3, Dover-Sherborn Regional Middle School at No. 4, and William Diamond Middle School in Lexington at No. 5.

Finally, the best elementary school in the state, according to Niche, is Field Elementary School in Weston, followed by Woodland Elementary School in Weston at No. 2, John D. Hardy Elementary School in Wellesley at No. 3, Bowman Elemetary School in Lexington at No. 4, and Maria Hastings Elementary School in Lexington at No. 5.

Niche used statistics from the U.S. Department of Education and millions of reviews from students and parents to determine this year’s list. Ranking factors include state test scores, college readiness, teacher quality, graduation rates, public school district ratings, and more. Because of a “de-emphasis” on test scores for the college admissions process, SAT/ACT scores have been removed from this year’s list, noted Niche.

Check out Niche’s list of the best school districts in Massachusetts in 2024.