South Elementary School, Windsor Locks CT

Original Research by School Decision on South Elementary School

South Elementary School serves grades three through five in Windsor Locks, a small town in Hartford County anchored by Bradley International Airport and positioned along the Connecticut River between Hartford and Springfield, Massachusetts. The town is undergoing active downtown revitalization centered on transit-oriented development, with a relocated train station and mixed-income housing projects reshaping the civic core around Main Street.

The school is one of two elementary buildings in the Windsor Locks School District. Its current enrollment spans roughly the mid-sized range for an elementary school at this grade band, with a racially and ethnically diverse population: just over half the students identify as white, with meaningful representation of Hispanic, Black, and Asian students, along with a smaller multiracial population. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating moderate economic diversity in the enrolled population.

On state assessments, South Elementary's performance is below where the field typically aims. In math, proficiency rates range from the low-to-mid range in grade three, increasing modestly through grade five. In English language arts, proficiency is even lower in the early grades, though it rises noticeably by fifth grade. Science testing, available only at fifth grade, shows performance closer to ELA at that level. Across all tested subjects and grades, the school's overall proficiency index places it in the bottom quartile relative to other schools in the Capitol Planning Region. Test participation rates are very high, so these results reflect what students are actually demonstrating on the assessments. A parent may want to look into this further with the school to understand what supports are in place for struggling learners and what the school's trajectory has been, since only one year of data is available here.

The district itself is navigating significant budget headwinds. Town referendums on the combined operating budget, which includes school funding, were rejected repeatedly in both 2025 and 2026, prompting phase-in tax plans and statutory mill-rate setting by town officials. Because the school board's portion represents a substantial share of the town's overall budget, these repeated defeats and cuts directly affect the resources available to schools and the property tax rate families pay. For anyone considering a move to Windsor Locks, this pattern of budget contention is a live concern worth tracking with the town and district, as it creates year-to-year uncertainty around school spending and local tax obligations.

The school is a regular public elementary building with no magnet or charter designation. Staffing, course offerings, and program details were not available in the data reviewed. The town itself is investing actively in downtown amenities, parks, and transit access, with the canal state park trail, multiple recreation facilities, and walkable neighborhoods forming the community setting around the school.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 333%

School 33% · District 33%

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

Grade 437%

School 37% · District 37%

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

Grade 539%

School 39% · District 39%

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

English language arts

Grade 326%

School 26% · District 26%

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

Grade 432%

School 32% · District 32%

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

Grade 541%

School 41% · District 41%

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

Science

Grade 542%

School 42% · district not reported

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

This schoolWindsor Locks 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-income23%Higher-income29%6 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income13%Higher-income53%40 pp gap