The top reported proficiency rate is 26% in English language arts. The lowest is 24% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Beeman Memorial
Beeman Memorial is a regular public elementary school serving kindergarten through grade five as part of the Gloucester public school district. It is one of several elementary options in a district that recently reduced its elementary count from five to four, consolidating Veterans' Memorial School into East Gloucester Elementary to create East Veterans Elementary. That change permanently reshaped attendance boundaries and school assignments for Gloucester families, and the district reported substantial capital spending tied to the reconfiguration.
The school sits in Gloucester, a coastal city on Cape Ann. Housing costs in the area are meaningfully above the national median, and rents have risen at a noticeably faster clip than home values. The countywide housing market shows a tight inventory picture: active and pending listings shifted sharply in a recent period, and median days on market are relatively short, suggesting continued demand. The ratio of home prices to incomes is elevated, and the estimated monthly mortgage payment surpasses typical rent, making homeownership a harder proposition compared to renting.
Beeman Memorial enrolls a student body that is predominantly white, with a substantial share of Hispanic students and smaller shares of students who are two or more races, Black, and Asian. The school is a regular public school and is not a charter or magnet institution. Data on the share of students who qualify for free or reduced-price meals was not available, and information on students with individualized education programs or English learner classifications was also missing, so a parent would need to ask the school directly about those dimensions of support.
On state assessments, Beeman Memorial's proficiency rates lagged notably behind the midpoint among districts in Essex County, landing in the bottom quartile for overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades. In math, ELA, and science, the share of students scoring proficient or above was lower than what many area schools report. The trend lines show a steeper decline compared to pre-pandemic levels: in ELA, proficiency stood at roughly half of students in the years before 2020, then dropped and has settled at about a quarter since. Math followed a similar trajectory, from nearly half proficient to about a quarter. The most recent year's results remain at that lower plateau, with no clear upward turn yet.
Because Beeman Memorial serves only elementary grades, there is no graduation rate to report. Chronic absenteeism data and discipline data were also absent from the available records, so those are gaps a family may wish to explore directly with the school or district.
The school's academic profile suggests it is not currently delivering the level of proficiency that many families in the region expect from their elementary schools. The downward shift in test outcomes over recent years is a real one, and the fact that scores have not rebounded higher is a soft spot that warrants a closer conversation with the school about instruction, intervention, and how the school supports students who are not yet meeting grade-level benchmarks. For a family weighing Gloucester's elementary options, Beeman Memorial represents a school where the academic numbers are a clear concern, and understanding what the school is doing to address them will be an important part of the decision.
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