Mckinley School, Fairfield CT - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Mckinley School

McKinley School is a neighborhood elementary school in Fairfield that serves kindergarten through fifth grade, located in a suburban coastal town with a mix of residential neighborhoods, a walkable downtown, and extensive shoreline. The school enrolls students who live in a diverse catchment area and sits within a district that is implementing a district-wide shift in early literacy instruction.

Academic performance reflects a mixed picture across grade levels and subjects. In math, third-graders show stronger proficiency, while performance drops noticeably in grades four and five, where fewer than three-fifths of students meet proficiency standards. In English language arts, the pattern is steeper: third-grade proficiency is moderate, fourth grade edges lower, and fifth grade falls well below the school's other results, with less than two-fifths of students proficient. Science data for fifth grade is suppressed, so no proficiency rate is publicly reported. Across all tested subjects combined, the school's overall proficiency sits above the midpoint when compared to other schools in the Greater Bridgeport Planning Region, a regional grouping of districts. The district recently adopted new PK-5 literacy curricula aligned to Connecticut's Right to Read law and the Science of Reading, with implementation underway; this represents an instructional shift in how reading and writing are taught throughout elementary grades, so families should expect the literacy environment to reflect this newer approach.

The school's enrollment is about that size typical for an elementary school in this suburban district. Just over half of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating a student body with moderate economic diversity. The racial and ethnic composition is mixed: roughly two-fifths of students are white, about a third are Hispanic, a smaller share are Asian, a small share are Black, and the remainder are from other backgrounds. Specific data on the share of students receiving special education services or classified as English learners was not available.

Fairfield itself is a property-tax-reliant community experiencing steady residential growth, particularly near the downtown and transit-oriented development around the Metro-North stations, though the school district faces budget pressures that have required cost cuts in recent years. The district is also operating under a long-standing state mandate to address racial imbalance at the elementary level; a redistricting plan was proposed but not adopted after parent opposition, leaving the state to require an amended plan, which means elementary school boundaries remain potentially subject to future change. For families considering the area, this unresolved issue is worth watching with the district directly.

A parent may want to look into the school's specific approach to math instruction in grades four and five, where proficiency dips notably, and to ask the school about how the new Science of Reading curriculum is being implemented in their child's classroom and what reading interventions or support structures exist for students not yet proficient.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 380%

School 80% · District 76% · ▲ 4 pts above district

▲ 25 pts above state median · ▲ 40 pts above county median

Grade 455%

School 55% · District 74% · ▼ 18 pts below district

▲ 3 pts above state median · ▲ 24 pts above county median

Grade 551%

School 51% · District 70% · ▼ 18 pts below district

▲ 8 pts above state median · ▲ 28 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 365%

School 65% · District 70% · ▼ 5 pts below district

▲ 17 pts above state median · ▲ 29 pts above county median

Grade 459%

School 59% · District 76% · ▼ 16 pts below district

▲ 3 pts above state median · ▲ 2 pts above county median

Grade 540%

School 40% · District 76% · ▼ 37 pts below district

▼ 18 pts below state median · ▼ 9 pts below county median

This schoolFairfield 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-income55%Higher-income79%24 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income52%Higher-income67%14 pp gap