The top reported proficiency rate is 17% in English language arts. The lowest is 13% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Benjamin Franklin Academy Chartered Public School
Benjamin Franklin Academy Chartered Public School is a relatively new charter option in Loudon, New Hampshire, serving grades six through twelve. It opened to students in the fall of 2023 after receiving state approval late the prior year. The school describes itself as offering a liberal arts education paired with hands-on learning in industrial, artisan, and agricultural trades. That combination of classical academics and practical trades instruction is the defining feature families encounter when they look at this school, and it sits at the center of what makes this place distinct from other public options in the area.
The enrollment is very small, which follows naturally from the school being in its first couple of years. The middle grades carry the weight of the student body right now, with the largest concentration in sixth grade and somewhat smaller groups in seventh and eighth. The high school side is barely built out yet. Only a handful of ninth graders are enrolled, and there are no students in tenth, eleventh, or twelfth grade at all. This is what you would expect from a school that opened recently and is adding upper grades over time, but it means the high school program is still in a formative stage. Families looking at this school for a high schooler today would be looking at a program that has not yet graduated a class.
State testing data from New Hampshire's assessment system is available for the current school year, but only for seventh and eighth grade. Sixth grade shows no test-takers in the data, which could reflect how the school administered or reported tests for that grade in its early operation. Among the grades with results, proficiency rates in both math and English language arts are low. Science results for eighth grade show essentially no students reaching proficiency. Participation rates were mixed, with seventh grade seeing a notable portion of students not tested and eighth grade showing stronger participation. With such small tested groups, a single student's result moves the overall picture considerably, so these results should be read with that context in mind rather than treated as a stable trend. A parent may want to look into this further with the school, particularly how the school plans to support academic growth as it matures.
No graduation rate is reported, which makes sense given that the school has no twelfth-grade students yet and has not had a graduating class.
The student population is nearly entirely white, with only one or two students from other racial or ethnic backgrounds. Information on free or reduced-price lunch eligibility, special education rates, and English learner status was not available in the data provided. The school does not appear to have a Title I status reported, and no civil rights data, discipline information, course access details, or staffing figures were included. We looked for locale and community context but found little, so we left it out rather than guess. No housing market information, neighbor comparison, or program-specific offerings beyond the stated curriculum description were available either.
What families are looking at here is a young, small charter school with a clear educational identity built around liberal arts and trades. The academic results so far are early and based on very small numbers of test-takers, so they tell you more about where the school is starting from than where it is headed. The school is still in the process of building its high school, and several categories of information that parents often rely on, from demographic detail to program offerings, were not available. For a family willing to grow with a new school and drawn to the trades-integrated approach, this is an option worth watching. For families who want an established track record or a full high school experience today, the picture is not there yet.
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