The top reported proficiency rate is 46% in Math. The lowest is 44% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Ezra H Baker Innovation School
Ezra H Baker Innovation School serves students from pre-kindergarten through third grade in West Dennis, a coastal census-designated place within the town of Dennis on Cape Cod. Because the school stops at third grade, there is no graduation rate to report, and the state testing results that exist cover only the third-grade cohort. The school is a regular public school within the Dennis-Yarmouth Regional School District.
The school’s enrollment is concentrated in the early elementary years. The student body is predominantly white, with a substantial share of students who are Hispanic and a smaller but noticeable share who are Black. The data did not include information on how many students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, nor on students with disabilities or English learners, so a family looking for those specifics would need to ask the school directly.
On the 2024-25 NextGen MCAS, the school’s third graders posted proficiency rates that landed below the midpoint among Barnstable County districts overall, based on a combined proficiency index across math and English language arts. In math, the share of students scoring proficient or above was reported as moderate. In English language arts, the share was slightly lower. The school’s participation rate on the tests was essentially complete, which makes the results a reliable read of that grade’s performance.
Looking across recent years, the school’s test results have moved around. In English language arts, proficiency in the pre-pandemic period reached a high, then dipped, then recovered to roughly the same level in the most recent year reported before settling a bit lower in the prior year and then rising again to the current level. In math, the pattern shows a similar arc, with a pre-pandemic peak, a drop, and a long recovery that has held steady at the current rate for several consecutive years. The year-to-year swings are not unusual for a small cohort, where a single classroom’s composition can shift the numbers noticeably. A parent with a child entering third grade may want to discuss the school’s instructional approach in the tested grades with the principal.
West Dennis itself is a seasonal community. The housing stock has a very high vacancy rate, which reflects a large share of second homes and rental properties that sit empty in the off-season. The year-round population is modest, and the character of the place changes markedly between summer and winter. Housing values in the zip code are above the state benchmark and well above the national benchmark, which tracks with the Cape Cod resort market. The area has neither a dense walkable center nor a clearly identified downtown; municipal services run through the town of Dennis.
The Dennis-Yarmouth district’s publicly reported recent changes were sparse in available sources, so there is little to report on new programs, boundary shifts, or facility projects at the district level that would directly affect this school. The school’s innovation designation suggests some flexibility in programming, but no specific curriculum details or special programs were supplied in the data.
For a family considering this school, the central facts are that it serves the earliest grades only, it sits in a seasonal coastal community with high housing costs, and its third-grade state test results have trended around the middle of the pack for Barnstable County, with some year-to-year variability that a small grade cohort naturally produces. A parent will want to learn what happens for fourth grade and beyond, since the school does not continue past third grade, and to ask the school directly about the student-support data that was not available here.
See more original research from School Decision →