Har-bur Middle School, Burlington CT

Original Research by School Decision on Har-bur Middle School

Har-Bur Middle School serves grades five through eight in Burlington, Connecticut, as part of Regional School District 10, which also includes Harwinton. The school sits in a rural-suburban hill town of family homes scattered across protected watershed land and forests, about a short drive west of Hartford. Most students in this grade band live in single-family homes with parents who own their properties.

The school's academic profile shows mixed results across tested subjects. In English language arts, proficiency runs strong across the grades, with performance improving toward the upper middle grades. In mathematics, proficiency sits below that mark across all grades, with the lowest performance in eighth grade. Science proficiency is solid in the tested grades. Overall, when proficiency rates are averaged across subjects and grades, the school sits below the midpoint among other middle schools in the region; a parent may want to look into this further with the school, particularly regarding the math trajectory.

The tested grades show consistently high participation rates—nearly universal. Student test-taking rates were very high across all assessments.

Enrollment is distributed evenly across the four grades, with about mid-size cohorts at each level. The school's student body is predominantly white and multi-racial, with a smaller Hispanic population and very few Asian, Black, or Native American students. About one in six students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. Data on English learners and students with individualized education plans was not available. The district adopted an evidence-based, science-of-reading curriculum for early grades in the 2024-25 school year, required under Connecticut's 2021 Right to Read law, though that mandate applies to kindergarten through third grade, not this middle school directly.

Burlington itself has experienced significant growth since the 1990s and remains one of Connecticut's faster-growing towns, driven by single-family home development on larger lots rather than dense housing. The median home value is well above the state benchmark. The town center is small and anchors around Route 4 with limited walkability; residents drive to neighboring towns for shopping and dining. Community life centers on outdoor recreation, with extensive trails, state forests, and river access shaping daily use of space. Transit is minimal. The town is home to three large recreation complexes and has added a fourth park in recent years.

District budgets are decided by annual referendums in both Burlington and Harwinton each spring, giving residents a direct annual vote on school spending. This recurring fiscal process is a property-tax factor families should weigh when considering the district.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 556%

School 56% · District 56%

▲ 13 pts above state median

Grade 654%

School 54% · District 54%

▲ 15 pts above state median

Grade 760%

School 60% · District 60%

▲ 17 pts above state median · ▼ 3 pts below county median

Grade 852%

School 52% · District 51% · ▲ 1 pts above district

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

English language arts

Grade 572%

School 72% · District 72%

▲ 15 pts above state median · ▲ 12 pts above county median

Grade 662%

School 62% · District 62%

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

Grade 770%

School 70% · District 70%

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

Grade 863%

School 63% · District 61% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▲ 12 pts above state median · ▼ 3 pts below county median

Science

Grade 568%

School 68% · District 68%

▲ 16 pts above state median

Grade 867%

School 67% · District 67% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▲ 19 pts above state median

This schoolRegional School District 10, 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

Mathematics

Grade 5Lower-income29%Higher-income61%32 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income35%Higher-income58%24 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income48%Higher-income62%14 pp gap