The top reported proficiency rate is 34% in Science. The lowest is 27% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Brookside Elementary School
Brookside Elementary School serves grades PreK through 5 in Norwalk, a mixed-use coastal city anchored by South Norwalk's maritime entertainment district and distributed across two dozen residential neighborhoods. The school is located on Highland Avenue and draws its student body from a neighborhood that is economically varied and predominantly Hispanic, with a substantial share of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch. The housing market in the ZIP code where Brookside sits reflects broader Norwalk growth: home values have climbed steadily, and rents have risen sharply even as new apartment construction accelerates, reflecting the city's sustained development wave in recent years.
Brookside's current enrollment sits at a small to moderate size for an elementary school, split across its grade bands. Demographically, the school is roughly seven out of ten Hispanic students, with smaller shares of white and Black students and a tiny Asian population. The data available does not break out English learner enrollment or special education enrollment by individual school, so a family may want to ask Norwalk School District directly about those populations at Brookside and what support services are available.
State test results from the most recent year show academic performance below where the district and surrounding region typically sit. In English language arts, students across all tested grades average at a rate that trails regional benchmarks by a considerable margin. Math results are similarly below the regional midpoint across grades 3 through 5. Grade 5 science proficiency, the only science grade tested at the elementary level in Connecticut, follows the same pattern. The variance across grades is notable: Grade 3 math proficiency runs higher than Grade 5, and Grade 5 ELA performance is the strongest of the ELA results, suggesting that student trajectories differ and that the school may be working with younger students at different starting points or facing different dynamics in upper grades. These results reflect the reality that many students at Brookside are not yet meeting state proficiency standards, and parents may want to understand from the school what interventions and supports are in place, what the school's plan is to build student skill, and how they can partner at home.
Norwalk School District is in the midst of significant infrastructure change. The district opened its first new school building in decades just recently and is opening a new South Norwalk neighborhood elementary school for the 2025-26 school year, marking the return of a neighborhood school to South Norwalk for the first time in over a generation. A major new high school and P-TECH facility is also under construction and expected to be operational by fall 2027. Simultaneously, the district has won a substantial federal magnet school grant to strengthen career and STEAM pathways at three schools spanning kindergarten through high school, and Norwalk residents now have access to the Open Choice program, which lets families apply to attend neighboring districts with transportation provided. Together these shifts mean that Norwalk families have more school options and pathways available to them than they did even two or three years ago.
For Brookside specifically, the opening of the new South Norwalk school may affect enrollment patterns and school assignments as neighborhood families gain a local option that did not exist before. That change is worth exploring directly with the district when considering whether Brookside fits your family's needs, since assignment zones may shift and transportation patterns may change.
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