The top reported proficiency rate is 35% in Science. The lowest is 20% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Potter Road
Potter Road is a regular public elementary school in Framingham, serving kindergarten through fifth grade. It sits within the Framingham Public Schools district and operates as a neighborhood school.
The school enrolls a moderate-sized student body. Demographically, the majority of students are Hispanic, with a substantial white population and smaller shares of Black, multiracial, and Asian students. Information on the share of students who qualify for free or reduced-price meals, receive special education services, or are English learners was not available in the data, so a parent may want to follow up with the school directly for those details.
Academically, performance on the state’s NextGen MCAS assessments has been weak. In the most recent testing year, proficiency rates in math and English language arts were well below the state average, and science proficiency was also low. Looking at the trend over the past several years, both math and ELA proficiency have declined notably from pre-pandemic levels, with math dropping from around the midpoint to a lower range and ELA following a similar trajectory before stabilizing at a reduced level. The school’s overall proficiency across tested subjects, when compared to other districts in Middlesex County, places it in the bottom quartile. This is a clear soft spot; a family focused on high academic test scores would want to investigate further and understand the supports the school offers.
Because Potter Road serves only elementary grades, there is no graduation rate to report, and chronic absenteeism data was not available in the dataset. No information on specific program offerings, such as special academic tracks or enrichment opportunities, was provided.
Framingham, the city where Potter Road is located, is a mid-sized community west of Boston with a mix of suburban neighborhoods, commercial corridors, and some open space. It has a notably large Brazilian American population and a strong presence of corporate headquarters such as Bose, Staples, and TJX. The housing market reflects the pressure of the Greater Boston area: home values are high, and rents are elevated relative to national averages. The city is car-dependent overall, though the downtown area around the common and the commuter rail station offers some walkable civic fabric. Families considering relocating to Framingham should expect a competitive housing market typical of the MetroWest region.
The Framingham district made a lasting structural change starting in the 2022-23 school year: elementary schools were reconfigured from kindergarten through fifth grade to kindergarten through fourth grade, with fifth grade moving to middle school. Potter Road is listed as serving grades KG through 05, which may reflect the prior configuration or a transition still in place at this particular school. A parent should verify the current grade assignment for Potter Road with the district to know whether their child would attend a different school in fifth grade.
This is a school with a diverse student body in a high-cost suburban city, where academic proficiency lags behind most other districts in Middlesex County. The trend data shows a clear post-pandemic decline that has not reversed. A family weighing this school would want to learn more about classroom instruction, intervention programs, and how the school supports students who are not yet meeting grade-level benchmarks.
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