The top reported proficiency rate is 65% in Science. The lowest is 61% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Bradley Elementary School
Bradley Elementary School serves students from pre-kindergarten through sixth grade in the East Boston neighborhood of Boston. It is a regular public school within the Boston Public Schools system, operating as a neighborhood school rather than a charter, magnet, or alternative program. The school draws its student body from a dense, urban community with a distinct character shaped by Logan International Airport, the MBTA Blue Line, and a grid of streets lined with triple-decker homes.
The student population is diverse. Hispanic or Latino students make up the largest share, followed by a substantial number of White students. Smaller groups of Asian, Black, multiracial, and Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander students round out the enrollment. The school serves a moderate number of students overall for its grade band. Two key pieces of context a family may want to investigate further are the shares of students who qualify for free or reduced-price lunch and those receiving special education or English learner services, as those figures were not available in the data. The neighborhood itself has a median household income that, as publicly reported, sits below Boston's citywide average, and the area has experienced both new waterfront luxury development and displacement pressures that families may hear about in local conversations.
On state assessments, Bradley Elementary posts results that place it in a strong position compared to other schools across Suffolk County. The school’s overall proficiency across tested subjects lands in the top quartile relative to the county’s districts. In math, a clear majority of students met or exceeded standards on the NextGen MCAS. ELA results showed a similar pattern, with most students scoring proficient or above. Science results, which come from a smaller tested cohort of students in the grades tested, were also solidly above the midpoint. The school’s trend lines show some fluctuation over the years—math proficiency wavered after the pandemic but has generally stayed in a range that suggests consistent performance, while ELA results have remained fairly steady around the same level. Full participation aids the reliability of these results.
As an elementary school, Bradley does not have a graduation rate or offer advanced coursework like AP or dual enrollment, so those are not relevant measures here. The school’s academic identity is built on its strong core instruction for the elementary years rather than specialized high school pathways.
The setting is unmistakably urban. East Boston was Boston’s first planned neighborhood, laid out on a grid that makes walkable commercial squares like Maverick Square and Central Square natural hubs. The MBTA Blue Line runs five stations through the neighborhood, and ferry service crosses the harbor. Logan Airport occupies a large land area on the eastern side, which means aircraft noise is a daily reality for residents and the school. The Mary Ellen Welch Greenway, a shared-use path along a former rail line, threads through the neighborhood and connects parks including Piers Park, Bremen Street Park, and Belle Isle Marsh Reservation. The Boston Public Library’s East Boston branch is located within Bremen Street Park. The built environment is dense, with narrow residential streets and many restored triple-deckers mixed with newer apartments near transit.
Families considering Bradley Elementary should weigh its record of above-county-average test performance against the realities of a big-city district. The Boston Public Schools system has not had major district-level policy or budget changes publicly reported in recent data, so the school’s day-to-day operations likely reflect the broader context of a large urban district with its associated resource decisions and enrollment dynamics. Parents may want to ask the school directly about class sizes, teacher turnover, and the specific support programs available for students who are learning English or who have special needs, since those data were missing from the available information. For a family looking for an elementary school with solid academic results in a transit-connected, diverse neighborhood, Bradley is a credible option. The airport noise, dense housing stock, and ongoing development pressures are part of the trade-off that comes with living in this part of Boston.
See more original research from School Decision →