The top reported proficiency rate is 79% in English language arts. The lowest is 48% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Rsu 28/msad 28
RSU 28, also known as MSAD 28, is a pre-kindergarten through eighth-grade district serving the adjacent Midcoast Maine towns of Camden and Rockport in Knox County. It operates two schools: Camden-Rockport Elementary School and Camden-Rockport Middle School. Because the district tops out at eighth grade, there is no graduation rate to report, and families will need to look to a separate secondary arrangement, likely a tuition agreement with a neighboring high school, for grades nine through twelve. The district brief does not specify that arrangement, so a parent may want to confirm the high school pathway directly with the district.
On the most recent Maine state assessments, the district's English language arts proficiency rate for grades three through eight sits well above the state midpoint, and mathematics proficiency is also strong, with a clear majority of tested students meeting or exceeding the standard. Science proficiency is lower, landing closer to the middle of the pack, and a parent may want to look into this further with the school to understand how science instruction is sequenced across the upper elementary and middle grades. Average scale scores and participation rates were not reported in the data we received, and no multi-year trend figures were available, so we cannot characterize whether performance is rising, holding, or slipping over time. The district's tested cohort in these grades is moderate in size for a Maine K-through-eight system.
The student body is overwhelmingly white, with small representations across several other racial and ethnic categories. The district did not report free or reduced-price lunch counts, nor did it provide counts for students with individualized education programs or English learners, so we have no picture from the data of economic disadvantage or special-population density. Those gaps mean a family relying only on what is publicly available here cannot assess the district's poverty profile or the scale of its special education and multilingual services. The enrollment is small enough that each grade cohort is modest, which generally means smaller classes but also fewer peer groups within a given grade.
The housing market in this district is expensive relative to both Maine and the nation. Camden's typical home value runs notably higher than Rockport's, and the two towns moved in opposite directions recently, with Camden values rising and Rockport values softening somewhat. Even the lower of the two town-level values sits well above the state benchmark, and the price-to-income ratio indicates that purchasing a home here requires a substantial income relative to much of Maine. Rent data was not available. Families considering the area should expect that housing costs will be a meaningful factor in any decision to enroll here, and renters may need to search locally for current availability since we found no rent index for the district.
The district recently made a lasting investment in specialized support. Publicly reported coverage indicates that MSAD 28 approved a fiscal year 2025 budget with an increase over the prior year, and that the budget includes ongoing funding for the I-PEX program, which stands for Individualized Programming for Excellence, at Camden-Rockport Middle School. I-PEX is designed for students who need a smaller setting and more social-emotional support, and it was piloted before receiving continuing funding. This is a concrete addition for families whose middle-school-age children may struggle in a more conventional classroom environment, and it suggests the district is actively building tiered supports rather than relying solely on a one-size approach.
We looked for data on discipline, course access, staffing ratios, and attendance and found none reported. No civil-rights outcomes, no program offerings beyond I-PEX, and no neighbor comparison set were available in the material we received. The district's strategic priorities were not described in any detail beyond the I-PEX funding, so we left further characterization out rather than guess. A parent weighing this district has solid evidence of strong reading and math results, a small and fairly homogeneous student body, an expensive housing market, and a recently funded targeted support program at the middle school. The gaps in economic, special-population, and trend data are wide enough that they should be part of the conversation with district staff during a school visit or enrollment inquiry.
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