The top reported proficiency rate is 31% in English language arts. The lowest is 29% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Walnut Square
Walnut Square serves kindergarten through third grade in Haverhill, a mid-sized city on the Merrimack River that blends residential neighborhoods with commercial and light-industrial activity. The school is a regular public school within the Haverhill district and is not a charter or magnet school. Because it serves only the early elementary grades, there is no graduation rate to report, and the state testing data that is available covers only the third-grade cohort, which is a single tested year in this grade band.
Walnut Square is a small school by enrollment. Its student body is majority white, with a substantial Hispanic population and smaller shares of Black, Asian, and multiracial students. Data on the share of students who qualify for free or reduced-price lunch was not reported, nor were counts of students with individualized education plans or English learner classifications, so a family looking for detail on the economic or special-education profile of the school will want to ask the school directly.
On the state’s NextGen MCAS assessments, Walnut Square’s third graders posted proficiency rates that sit below the midpoint among districts in Essex County. In math, roughly three in ten students scored proficient or above, and in English language arts, roughly three in ten did as well. Participation was full among tested students, which means the results represent nearly all of the eligible third graders. This is a single snapshot from one grade, not a multi-year trajectory for the school as a whole, and a parent may want to look into how well early literacy and numeracy skills are built in kindergarten through second grade, since those years are not captured by state tests. The available multi-year data shows nearly identical proficiency levels from the prior school year, with no meaningful change in either subject.
The school sits in a city that has undergone noticeable physical change. Haverhill completed reconstruction of Hunking Middle School in the Bradford neighborhood and is building a new campus for the Dr. A.B. Consentino Middle School. The city has two MBTA commuter rail stations, Haverhill and Bradford, that serve the line to Boston’s North Station, and Amtrak also stops at the Haverhill station. The city’s population grew steadily in the last decade, and the housing market reflects regional pressure: homes in the zip code serving this area are priced well above national benchmarks, with rents rising over the past year. Affordability is tight, particularly for renters, as estimated rent consumes a substantial share of the median household income. The county market shows an active inventory that is climbing year over year, and properties are selling relatively quickly, which means competition for available homes is high.
The Haverhill district itself did not have any major parent-relevant changes publicly reported recently, so the school’s academic and programmatic offerings are likely fairly stable. There was no available data on course access, staffing ratios, or discipline, which is common for a school serving only early grades. The school’s website may offer more on what reading and math curricula are used and what supports are available for students who are not yet meeting benchmarks.
For a family considering this school, the central factors are its early-elementary grade span, its small size, and its test results that indicate a notable share of third graders are not yet reaching state proficiency standards. The school’s location in a mid-sized, transit-connected city with a strong housing market and ongoing school construction projects gives it a stable, if competitive, community context. A parent weighing Walnut Square may want to speak with the school about how it identifies and supports students in the primary grades before state testing begins, and what the transition looks like for fourth graders moving to the next school in the district.
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