Pearson School, Winsted CT - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Pearson School

Pearson School is an elementary school serving grades three through six in Winsted, a historic mill village in northwestern Connecticut. It enrolls about three hundred students, with a student body that is predominantly white, and a substantial share of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch. The school sits in a community experiencing slow, incremental growth centered on adaptive reuse of former industrial buildings rather than new residential development.

On state assessments in English language arts, Pearson's results show a clear upward trajectory across grade levels. Third grade proficiency sits below the midpoint, but by sixth grade, proficiency moves above it. Math proficiency is more uneven: third grade is notably below the midpoint, fourth grade rises to near the midpoint, and fifth and sixth grades land in the lower-to-middle range. Science proficiency in fifth grade, the only grade tested, is the school's strongest showing, placing it solidly above the midpoint. Across all tested subjects and grades combined, Pearson sits in the bottom quartile relative to other districts in the Northwest Hills Planning Region, a positioning that reflects weaker outcomes in the lower grades that pull down the overall picture.

A pattern worth observing: in both English and math, third grade is notably the weakest point, and performance then improves. Whether this reflects grade-level curriculum transitions, the timing of instruction, or student composition at entry would be worth exploring directly with the school. The improvement in ELA across grades is steeper than in math, where gains flatten after grade four.

Winsted itself is a walkable downtown anchored by Main Street, with restaurants, shops, and proximity to Highland Lake. Housing is a mix of owner-occupied single-family homes and rentals, with many homes built in earlier decades. The broader Winchester area faces fiscal headwinds: the town's grand list has declined, pushing property tax rates upward, and state education cost-sharing aid has remained flat for several years. Multiple school and town budgets have gone to referendum in recent years, signaling voter contention over spending. For families considering the area, property taxes represent a real ongoing cost to factor in.

The school's grade band and the absence of high school in this building mean that state testing data do not cover science at all grades, and there are no graduation rates or secondary-level assessments to review. The data provided do not include information on special education rates, English learner services, or detailed program offerings, so a parent may want to reach out to the school directly about the breadth of academic support and specialized instruction available.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 328%

School 28% · District 28%

▼ 26 pts below state median · ▼ 36 pts below county median

Grade 444%

School 44% · District 44%

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

Grade 551%

School 51% · District 51%

▲ 8 pts above state median

Grade 645%

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

▲ 6 pts above state median

English language arts

Grade 333%

School 33% · District 33%

▼ 15 pts below state median · ▼ 33 pts below county median

Grade 435%

School 35% · District 35%

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

Grade 549%

School 49% · District 49%

▼ 8 pts below state median · ▼ 12 pts below county median

Grade 658%

School 58% · District 56% · ▲ 2 pts above district

▲ 6 pts above state median · ▼ 6 pts below county median

Science

Grade 563%

School 63% · district not reported

▲ 11 pts above state median

This schoolWinchester 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-income29%Higher-income38%10 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income63%Higher-income50%13 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 6Lower-income49%Higher-income41%8 pp gap