The top reported proficiency rate is 25% in Science. The lowest is 15% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Hood
Hood is a regular public elementary school in Lynn, serving students from prekindergarten through fifth grade. It sits in a densely populated urban city that is part of Greater Boston’s inner core, with a mix of residential neighborhoods, industrial legacy, and a downtown cultural district. The school building is on Oakwood Avenue, in the city’s residential fabric rather than on a separated campus.
Academically, the most recent state testing shows that proficiency rates in math, English language arts, and science are well below the midpoint among all districts in Essex County. In math, roughly one in five students scored proficient or above on the NextGen MCAS. In ELA, the figure is about one in seven. Science, tested only in fifth grade, is about one in four. These are the data for all students combined; the school’s overall proficiency index places it in the bottom quarter of the county’s districts. The multi-year trend reveals that performance has fallen substantially since before the pandemic: in the last pre-COVID year, ELA proficiency was around half, and math was around two-fifths. After a steep drop, rates have fluctuated at lower levels without recovering to the prior peak. A parent considering Hood will want to understand what academic supports are in place and how the school is working to raise achievement, particularly in literacy.
The student body is heavily Hispanic, accounting for roughly three-quarters of enrollment. Smaller shares identify as Asian, white, Black, and multiracial. The school serves a little under five hundred children across the elementary grades. Data on the share of students who qualify for free or reduced-price meals, receive special education services, or are classified as English learners were not reported in the available sources. Given Lynn’s large immigrant population, it would be reasonable for a family to ask the school directly about English learner supports and special education services. The district brief notes that Lynn Public Schools received a federal literacy grant and expanded a dual-language program to three elementary schools; it is not clear from the data whether Hood is among those schools.
Because Hood serves only elementary grades, there is no graduation rate to report. The district as a whole has seen recent changes that shape the context for its elementary schools: a middle school closure altered feeder patterns, and the district has been investing in early college pathways for high school students, which may eventually be a draw for families planning ahead. Lynn’s housing market reflects the urban region’s pressures; the area has been undergoing industrial-to-residential conversions, and property taxes have been rising along with school budgets.
What is missing from the available data also matters. No information on chronic absenteeism, disciplinary rates, staffing ratios, or course access was provided. A parent should seek those details from the school or district to get a fuller picture of daily conditions and student support. The picture that emerges from what is known is of an urban elementary school serving a diverse, majority-Hispanic student body in a city navigating post-industrial change, where state test scores are low and have not recovered from pandemic-era declines.
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