The top reported proficiency rate is 73% in Science. The lowest is 57% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Thompson
Thompson is a regular public elementary school in Arlington, Massachusetts, serving kindergarten through fifth grade. It is one of seven elementary schools in the Arlington district, each embedded in a different residential neighborhood, so where you live determines which school your child attends. The school building is located on Everett Street in Arlington, a dense, predominantly residential suburb a short distance from Boston. The town is relatively walkable, with active commercial corridors along Massachusetts Avenue and the Minuteman Bikeway providing a direct bike and pedestrian connection to the Alewife Red Line station and into Cambridge and Boston.
The student body is racially and ethnically diverse. The largest share of students are white, with Asian students making up a substantial group, and smaller shares of students who are Hispanic, Black, and of two or more races. Free-or-reduced-price lunch data was not reported for this school, so a picture of economic need among the families is not directly available from the data. Information on the share of students with disabilities or those learning English as a new language was also absent from the data provided, which a parent may want to investigate further with the school.
Thompson’s academic performance, as measured on the state’s NextGen MCAS assessments, shows students performing above the midpoint among districts in Middlesex County when looking at overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades. In the most recent testing year, a strong majority of students met or exceeded proficiency expectations in science. A smaller majority reached that bar in English language arts, and about half did so in math. These results place the school in a solid position relative to its county peers, though the math proficiency figure is one a parent might want to ask the school about, especially to understand how the school supports students who are not yet meeting that mark.
Looking at the multi-year trend data, Thompson’s proficiency rates have shown some variation over the past several years, a pattern not unusual for a single school. In English language arts, the share of proficient students moved within a modest band, with the most recent year at the lower end of that range. Math proficiency followed a similar pattern, with a dip in the most recent year. The trend lines do not show a steady decline or a clear upward climb; they show a school that has generally performed in a consistent range with year-to-year fluctuation.
Because Thompson serves only elementary grades, there is no graduation rate to report, and no data on chronic absenteeism was available in the record. The comparison with other districts in Middlesex County was limited to the proficiency index, given these gaps.
The Arlington district itself did not have recent, lasting changes of note in the available search results. The town’s housing market is expensive, with home values and rents well above national and state benchmarks, reflecting the desirability of a community with strong access to metropolitan Boston. The typical home value is very high, and monthly rents are also high. A household would need a substantial income to afford either comfortably. The town has seen rising incomes and increasing affluence over time, and its housing stock is largely historic single-family homes and multi-family buildings, with ongoing pressure on availability.
For a family considering Thompson, the school offers a neighborhood-based elementary experience in a high-cost, amenity-rich suburb with a good academic track record relative to its region. The student body is varied, and the school’s performance is above the midpoint of a large and competitive county. The soft spots in math proficiency and the missing data on economic need and special populations are areas where a parent would want to talk directly to the principal or visit the school to get a fuller picture of the supports in place.
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