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Boston had exactly one elementary school in the U.S. News list of top 100 in Mass.

All of the public elementary schools in the top 10 were in eastern Massachusetts.

By Katelyn Umholtz

November 17, 2023

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The U.S. News & World Report released its rankings of Massachusetts’ top public elementary schools, with one Boston school in the top 10.

But Eliot K-8 Innovation School, which serves students in kindergarten through eighth grade in the North End, was the only Boston school in the list of 100 elementary schools, mostly surrounded by elementary schools in the wealthy suburbs that make up the metro area. 

The rankings used standardized test scores to put together state and district lists.

“Half of the formula assessed the scores themselves and the other half incorporated the test results in the context of socioeconomic demographics,” U.S. News & World Report said. “In other words, the top-ranked schools are all high-achieving and have succeeded at educating all their students.”

The reason Eliot, a school with just under 800 students and a 14:1 student-teacher ratio, ranked so high was because 66% of its students scored at or above proficiency in math and 73% in reading. 

The other schools in the top 10 were all located in eastern Massachusetts, and most were in the Greater Boston area. 

In fact, the highest rank school in western Massachusetts was Williamstown Elementary — located near the border of New York and Vermont, at No. 49. 

The top 10 also included some of the wealthiest communities in Massachusetts, including Wellesley, Weston, Dunstable, and Newton. 

Some school districts, like Belmont, Wellesley, and Newton, saw multiple schools make the list — and in the case of Belmont and Newton, those districts had two schools show up in the top 10 alone. 

Here are the top 100 public elementary schools in Massachusetts, according to the U.S. News & World Report:

1. Albert S. Woodward Memorial School, Southborough
2. Winn Brook Elementary, Belmont
3. Hunnewell Elementary, Wellesley
4. Mason-Rice Elementary, Newton
5. Eliot Elementary, Boston
6. Mary Lee Burbank Elementary, Belmont
7. Spring Street School, Shrewsbury
8. Swallow/Union School, Dunstable
9. Woodland Elementary, Weston
10. John Ward Elementary, Newton
11. Hildreth Elementary, Harvard
12. John D. Hardy Elementary, Wellesley
13. Wampatuck Elementary, Scituate
14. William E. Sheehan School, Westwood
15. Governor Edward Winslow Elementary, Marshfield
16. Vinson-Owen Elementary, Winchester
17. Martha Jones School, Westwood
18. Paul P. Gates Elementary, Acton
19. Luther Conant School, Acton
20. Daniel Butler Elementary, Belmont
21. Alcott Elementary, Concord
22. South Elementary, Hingham
23. Maria Hastings Elementary, Lexington
24. Bowman Elementary, Lexington
25. Roger E. Wellington Elementary, Belmont
26. High Plain Elementary, Andover
27. Paul Hanlon School, Westwood
28. Ambrose Elementary, Winchester
29. John M. Tobin Elementary, Cambridge
30. Huckleberry Hill Elementary, Lynnfield
31. North Falmouth Elementary, Falmouth
32. Margaret A. Neary School, Southborough
33. Field Elementary, Weston
34. Joseph Estabrook Elementary, Lexington
35. Broadmeadow Elementary, Needham
36. J.F. Kennedy Memorial School, Franklin
37. Manchester Memorial Elementary, Manchester
38. J. Harding Armstrong Elementary, Westborough
39. Peirce Elementary, Newton
40. Chickering Elementary, Dover
41. Loker School, Wayland
42. Downey School, Westwood
43. Martin Luther King Jr. School, Cambridge
44. Lincoln Street Elementary, Northborough
45. Joseph E. Fiske Elementary, Wellesley
46. Heights Elementary, Sharon
47. Old Post Road School, Walpole
48. Elm Street School, Walpole
49. Williamstown Elementary, Williamstown
50. William L. Foster Elementary, Hingham
51. Carlisle School, Carlisle
52. Bridge Elementary, Lexington
53. Joshua Eaton Elementary, Reading
54. Burke/Memorial Elementary, Medway
55. East Elementary, Sharon
56. Countryside Elementary, Newton
57. Hopkins Elementary, Hopkinton
58. Maria L. Baldwin School, Cambridge
59. Annie E. Fales Elementary, Westborough
60. Katharine Lee Bates Elementary, Wellesley
61. Elmwood Elementary, Hopkinton
62. Lieutenant Job Lane School, Bedford
63. Lincoln School, Lincoln
64. Heath Elementary, Chestnut Hill
65. L.D. Batchelder Elementary, North Reading
66. John D. Runkle Elementary, Brookline
67. Dale Street School, Medfield
68. John A. Crisafulli Elementary, Westford
69. Floral Street School, Shrewsbury
70. Pierce Elementary, Brookline
71. Schofield Elementary, Wellesley
72. Old Hammondtown Elementary, Mattapoisett
73. Johnson Elementary, Natick
74. Abbot Elementary, Westford
75. Orleans Elementary, Orleans
76. South Elementary, Andover
77. E. Ethel Little School, North Reading
78. Glover Elementary, Milton
79. Ivan G. Smith Elementary, Danvers
80. Deerfield School, Westwood
81. Horace Mann Elementary, Newton
82. Willard Elementary, Concord
83. Winthrop Elementary, Melrose
84. Day Elementary, Westford
85. Tisbury Elementary, Tisbury
86. Plymouth River Elementary, Hingham
87. Blanchard Memorial School, Boxborough
88. Fiske Elementary, Lexington
89. Manomet Elementary, Plymouth
90. Thoreau Elementary, Concord
91. J. Turner Hood School, North Reading
92. Summer Street Elementary, Lynnfield
93. Franklin Elementary, Newton
94. Mildred Aitken School, Seekonk
95. C.C. Burr Elementary, Auburndale
96. William Mitchell Elementary, Needham
97. Brackett Elementary, Arlington
98. Acushnet Elementary, Acushnet
99. Lincoln Elementary, Winchester
100. Peter Noyes Elementary, Sudbury