The top reported proficiency rate is 0% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Greenleaf Academy
Greenleaf Academy is a small public school in Bradford, a village within the city of Haverhill, serving grades seven through twelve. With an enrollment that is very small for a secondary school, it operates as a regular public school within the Haverhill district. The school sits on Chadwick Street in a primarily residential neighborhood of Bradford, a community that retains its own identity and zip code and is served by an MBTA commuter rail station connecting to Boston. Bradford’s character blends its colonial village origins, centered on a historic common, with its function as a suburban part of Haverhill. The layout of schools in the area is spread across the neighborhood rather than on one large campus.
The student body at Greenleaf Academy is majority Hispanic and white, with Black students composing a meaningful share and a very small number of students identifying as two or more races. Data on the share of students who qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, receive special education services, or are English learners was not available. The school’s size means that each grade cohort is small, with the largest group in ninth grade and the smallest in seventh grade.
State testing data, available from the NextGen MCAS for math and English language arts, show that no student scored at the proficient level in either subject in the most recent year reported. The average scale scores in both math and ELA fell well below the state’s proficiency threshold. Participation rates were high in math and slightly lower in ELA. The school’s overall proficiency index, which averages results across tested subjects and grades, placed it in the bottom quartile relative to other districts in Essex County. Looking back at earlier years for which data is available, proficiency rates have been at or very near zero in both subjects across multiple test administrations, with no trend of improvement over time. A parent considering this school should understand that the academic performance, as measured by these state assessments, is very low.
Because Greenleaf Academy serves grades seven through twelve, a graduation rate would be expected, but it was not available in the data. Other measures like chronic absenteeism were also not reported. The school’s category in the federal data is a regular public school, not an alternative or special-purpose school, though a parent may want to ask the school whether it serves a particular student population that could explain the test results. The absence of a reported graduation rate is a gap that a family would want to clarify directly with the school.
The district, Haverhill, was reviewed for recent changes that would matter to a parent, and nothing of lasting impact was found in publicly reported sources. This is a district that, at this moment, does not appear to be undergoing a major restructuring or policy shift that would affect a family’s decision.
For families looking at the housing market in the area, the village of Bradford and the broader Haverhill market show a median home value that is above the national benchmark but below the state average. The rental market is expensive relative to incomes, with rent consuming a substantial share of a typical household’s income. The local economy reflects a modestly tight housing supply and steady demand, typical of many suburbs in eastern Massachusetts. The MBTA commuter rail station in Bradford gives residents direct access to Boston, which is a practical consideration for commuting families.
Greenleaf Academy is a school where the numbers are clear: academic proficiency on state tests is very low, and the school is very small. For a parent, the key questions to pursue are what the school’s mission and program actually are, what supports are in place for students who are not meeting grade-level expectations, and what the graduation and postsecondary outcomes look like. The available data provides a starting point, not a full picture, and the gaps in available information are significant enough that a family should not make a decision on test scores alone.
See more original research from School Decision →