Smith Elementary School, New Britain CT

Original Research by School Decision on Smith Elementary School

Smith Elementary School serves kindergarten through fifth grade in New Britain, Connecticut, a mid-sized former industrial city in central Connecticut undergoing downtown revitalization around its CTfastrak bus rapid transit corridor. The school enrolls roughly a mid-sized cohort for its grade band, with a student body that is predominantly Hispanic and economically disadvantaged, reflecting New Britain's demographics. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch.

The school's state assessment results show low proficiency levels across the tested grades. In math, third and fourth graders scored particularly low, with only a small fraction meeting proficiency. Fifth-grade math performance improved modestly but remained well below the typical range. In English language arts, third graders had the lowest showing, while fifth graders performed better than their lower-grade peers, though still at levels that would concern most families. Science proficiency data for fifth grade was suppressed, so that result is not publicly available. Overall, across all tested subjects and grades, Smith's mean proficiency index sits in the bottom quartile relative to other districts in the Capitol Planning Region. When measured against the full county's schools, the school's performance is notably below the county median.

All students participate fully in state testing, indicating strong attendance compliance during assessment windows. The school has completed one year of results under its current curriculum framework, so multi-year trend data is not yet available to show whether performance is moving.

The district launched a new reading curriculum in fall 2023 as part of a "fresh focus on literacy" initiative and reports early gains in some classrooms based on i-Ready assessments. This shift is still relatively new, and whether it has begun to move results at Smith specifically remains to be seen. Parents may want to ask the school directly about early reading instructional practices and what data the school is tracking locally to monitor progress. The district has also made strategic commitments through 2029 to continuously revise curriculum and ensure families are partners in their children's learning decisions.

Smith is a regular public elementary school within the Consolidated School District of New Britain. The school's location places it in a city that is investing substantially in transit-oriented downtown development and has expanded parks, cultural institutions, and civic amenities in recent years. From a housing perspective, the 06051 zip code encompasses a modest price-to-income ratio relative to the national benchmark, and rental costs consume a reasonable share of household income, though the area remains more affordable than the state average. A parent considering Smith would be looking at a neighborhood school serving a high-poverty, multiethnic community with very low current proficiency results and the beginnings of a district-wide literacy overhaul.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 320%

School 20% · District 20% · ▼ 1 pts below district

▼ 35 pts below state median · ▼ 34 pts below county median

Grade 418%

School 18% · District 22% · ▼ 4 pts below district

▼ 35 pts below state median · ▼ 35 pts below county median

Grade 527%

School 27% · District 15% · ▲ 12 pts above district

▼ 16 pts below state median · ▼ 21 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 314%

School 14% · District 16% · ▼ 1 pts below district

▼ 34 pts below state median · ▼ 34 pts below county median

Grade 419%

School 19% · District 21% · ▼ 2 pts below district

▼ 37 pts below state median · ▼ 39 pts below county median

Grade 533%

School 33% · District 22% · ▲ 11 pts above district

▼ 24 pts below state median · ▼ 25 pts below county median

This schoolNew Britain 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.