South Side School, Bristol CT - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on South Side School

South Side School is a public elementary school serving kindergarten through fifth grade in Bristol, a suburban city about twenty miles southwest of Hartford. The school serves a community that is economically diverse and racially mixed, with a substantial share of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch. The student body is nearly half Hispanic, with a significant white population, and smaller shares of Black, Asian, and multiracial students. Enrollment is modest and evenly distributed across grades.

In state testing administered in the most recent school year, South Side's proficiency results sit below the midpoint among the county's school districts. In English language arts, fourth-graders performed better than other grades, while third and fifth graders showed lower attainment. In math, proficiency declined as grade level increased, with third graders performing strongest and fifth graders considerably weaker. Science testing, which occurs only in fifth grade, showed results similar to math in that grade. Across all tested subjects and grades combined, the school's overall proficiency index falls below the county median. A parent may want to look into this further with the school to understand what academic supports and pathways exist to help students strengthen skills in math and upper elementary grades.

The school sits within the Bristol School District, which is undergoing significant structural change. A major redistricting plan is reconfiguring grade structures across the district, with West Bristol and Greene-Hills schools moving from K-8 to K-5 schools starting in 2025. This shift redirects middle-grade students to larger middle schools based on high school boundaries. A new Northeast Middle School is under construction and expected to open in fall 2026, replacing existing facilities with modern academic and arts-technology wings. The district also operates the Bristol Arts and Innovation Magnet School, a lottery-admission grades 6-12 program in a historic renovated building that opened in 2022. These changes affect which schools children attend by neighborhood, potentially altering commute times and peer groups.

Bristol itself is a car-dependent suburban city in transition. Its downtown, which lost a shopping mall years ago, is being actively rebuilt with market-rate apartments, medical facilities, and retail space as part of a live-work-play redevelopment effort. Housing values are moderate and rising slightly year over year. Rental housing is becoming available through new downtown development, though at market rates. The city's largest private employer is ESPN, headquartered on a large campus; Bristol Health and the school district are also major employers. Parks, libraries, and CTfastrak transit connections provide community anchors, though the city's Walk Score reflects its car-oriented character.

School property taxes in Bristol have risen, and the school district's budget grew in the recent fiscal year as the city addressed a special education funding gap. For families considering the area, housing affordability relative to income is moderate, and schools feed into two comprehensive high schools, Bristol Central and Bristol Eastern, based on attendance zone rather than a unified campus model.

See more original research from School Decision →

Academic performance

How students perform on state tests, by grade, set against the district.

Math

Grade 347%

School 47% · District 46% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▼ 7 pts below state median · ▼ 5 pts below county median

Grade 445%

School 45% · District 45%

▼ 7 pts below state median · even with county median

Grade 539%

School 39% · District 38% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▼ 4 pts below state median · ▲ 2 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 346%

School 46% · District 48% · ▼ 2 pts below district

▼ 2 pts below state median · ▲ 1 pts above county median

Grade 456%

School 56% · District 52% · ▲ 4 pts above district

even with state median · ▲ 5 pts above county median

Grade 542%

School 42% · District 46% · ▼ 4 pts below district

▼ 15 pts below state median · ▼ 6 pts below county median

Science

Grade 545%

School 45% · District 44% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▼ 7 pts below state median · ▼ 2 pts below county median

This schoolBristol School District, same grade

Graduation rate (ACGR) reflects the federally published Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate for the most recent year available. We refresh this data annually at the close of each academic year in June. The federal source publishes a banded rate (for example, "90-94%") instead of an exact number for cohorts small enough to risk identifying individual students. The state distribution chart, where shown, plots every school in the state with a published rate or band; schools whose rate is federally suppressed are excluded. Where the federal source publishes a band rather than an exact rate, the school is placed within its band using a stable, ID-derived offset, so its position is consistent across visits.

Proficiency by household income

English language arts

Grade 3Lower-income37%Higher-income57%19 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income61%Higher-income46%14 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income41%Higher-income54%13 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income42%Higher-income35%7 pp gap