The top reported proficiency rate is 60% in Science. The lowest is 55% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Cabot
Cabot is a regular public elementary school serving kindergarten through fifth grade in the village of Newtonville, part of the larger Newton school district. Newtonville is a mixed-use suburban village with a residential core of Victorian-era homes and a walkable commercial district centered on Walnut and Washington Streets. The village is bisected by the Massachusetts Turnpike and the MBTA Commuter Rail line, which gave rise to a commuter suburb for Boston professionals beginning in the mid-19th century. Transit access remains strong, with a commuter rail station and multiple bus routes serving the area, though the physical division of the village by the highway and railroad is a notable characteristic. Housing in the zip code is high-value, and the local market shows a substantial premium relative to national benchmarks, which shapes the family population that the school draws from.
Academically, Cabot's state testing results from the most recent school year place it above the midpoint among districts in Middlesex County on an overall proficiency index across tested subjects and grades. In mathematics, the share of students reaching proficiency in grades three through eight is in the mid-to-upper range of what is typical for the county; the same holds for English language arts and for science at grade five. The school saw participation rates near full, so the results represent nearly all enrolled students. Looking at multi-year trends, math proficiency has been relatively stable over recent years, settling in a consistent range after some variation. English language arts proficiency has shown more movement: it was higher several years ago, declined noticeably in the 2023-24 school year, and then rebounded to around the same level as math in the most recent year. This pattern may reflect normal cohort variation or changes in instruction; a parent may want to ask the school about recent literacy initiatives or curriculum adjustments.
Because Cabot serves only elementary grades, there is no graduation rate and no chronic absenteeism data reported. The school’s enrollment is moderate for an elementary school, with roughly even distribution across grades kindergarten through five. The student body is racially and ethnically diverse: a little over half of students are White, with Asian students making up the next largest group, followed by students who identify as two or more races, Hispanic students, and a small share of Black students. Free or reduced-price lunch data was not available, nor were counts of students with individualized education programs or English learner status. Those gaps mean that the level of economic diversity and the share of students receiving specialized support are not visible in the data; a family evaluating the school for a child with specific needs should follow up directly with the school to understand the support services available.
Cabot is not a charter or magnet school, and no Title I designation was reported. The school sits within a district that is well-regarded regionally, and the district brief did not surface any recent major changes or controversies that would affect a typical parent’s decision. The village setting means the school is integrated into the neighborhood, not on a separate campus, and many families likely walk or bike. The combination of moderate academic performance with a diverse, middle-sized student body in a high-cost, transit-accessible village makes Cabot a solid option for families who prioritize a traditional public school embedded in a walkable community and who are comfortable in a setting where test scores, while solid, are not the highest in the county.
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