Hastings Middle, Fairhaven MA - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Hastings Middle

Hastings Middle is a regular public school in Fairhaven, Massachusetts, serving grades six through eight. It is one of four schools in the Fairhaven district and sits within a coastal town that has a compact historic center, a strong maritime heritage, and a population that has been stable for years. The school operates under a new district-wide cell phone policy approved earlier this year, which bans phones for all middle school students during the school day. That policy, along with a recent property-tax override to close a budget gap, are the most significant recent changes a family would want to know about.

On the Massachusetts NextGen MCAS, Hastings Middle records proficiency rates across all four tested subjects that land below the midpoint among the county's districts in an overall proficiency index. In math, just over two in five students scored at the proficient level or above. In English language arts, the share was slightly lower. Science testing, which the state administers only to eighth graders, showed a similar rate, and social studies, also an eighth-grade test, came in lower still. Participation rates were high across every subject, so the results reflect nearly all enrolled students.

A look at multi-year trends shows that performance has sagged since the pandemic. In the years just before the pandemic, about half of students had met proficiency in ELA, and a similar share in math. Those numbers dropped and have not climbed back. The most recent year's results show math and ELA both sitting below the pre-pandemic baseline. A parent evaluating this school will want to understand what academic supports are in place for students who are not yet meeting the state's proficiency bar. The data on hand does not include information about special education services, English learner support, or free and reduced-price meal eligibility, so it is not possible to see how the school serves different student populations from the numbers alone.

Demographically, the student body is predominantly white, with smaller shares of students who are Hispanic, Black, Asian, or of two or more races. The school's enrollment is modest in size for a middle school, with each grade fairly balanced. The school is not a charter or magnet, and no Title I status was reported.

Fairhaven itself is a primarily residential town with a retail core where a few major employers, including the Acushnet Company and a specialty lubricants firm, anchor the local economy. The town's population has been essentially flat for years, and the area is not experiencing rapid growth. Housing values in the area are high by national standards, and the market has been active. The town has a publicly reported pedestrian and bike trail, a public library in a historic building, and a state beach. Commuter rail service to nearby New Bedford is in the works, but Fairhaven currently has no rail service of its own.

For a parent considering Hastings Middle, the picture is mixed. The school serves a stable community and has implemented a focused policy on cell phones that many families may prefer. But the academic results are clearly below where they were several years ago, and the proficiency rates across subjects place the school in the lower half of its county peers. The available data does not include information on chronic absenteeism or discipline, so those are open questions a parent may want to raise directly with the school.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grades 3-840%

School 40% · District 45% · ▼ 5 pts below district

▲ 1 pts above state median · ▲ 4 pts above county median

English language arts

Grades 3-839%

School 39% · District 45% · ▼ 5 pts below district

▼ 1 pts below state median · ▲ 4 pts above county median

Science

Grades 3-838%

School 38% · District 48% · ▼ 9 pts below district

▼ 4 pts below state median · ▲ 1 pts above county median

Social studies

Grade 834%

School 34% · District 34%

▼ 1 pts below state median · even with county median

This schoolFairhaven, 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 6Lower-income29%Higher-income46%17 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income31%Higher-income48%17 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income23%Higher-income47%24 pp gap

Grades 3-8Lower-income28%Higher-income47%20 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 6Lower-income24%Higher-income42%18 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income40%Higher-income51%11 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income26%Higher-income48%22 pp gap

Grades 3-8Lower-income30%Higher-income48%18 pp gap