The top reported proficiency rate is 58% in Science. The lowest is 38% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Edgartown Elementary
Edgartown Elementary serves students from prekindergarten through eighth grade in the county seat of Dukes County on Martha’s Vineyard. The school is the single public elementary and middle school in the Edgartown district, which covers the town of Edgartown itself, including the Katama area and Chappaquiddick Island. Because the school ends at eighth grade, there is no graduation rate to report; families who enroll here will turn to Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School for grades nine through twelve.
The town of Edgartown was once a major whaling port and is now a year-round community that swells with summer tourism. Its historic center is densely built with preserved eighteenth- and nineteenth-century captain’s homes, and commerce is oriented toward hospitality, yachting, dining, and marine recreation. As publicly reported, the town is easy to traverse on foot or bicycle, with civic institutions such as the Edgartown Free Public Library and the Dukes County Courthouse integrated into the downtown rather than set apart on a separate campus. Population growth over recent decades has driven a period of intense renovation of older houses, though no large-scale new housing developments have been widely reported. The town’s economy depends heavily on summer tourism and, to a degree, on town government and the courthouse for public-sector employment.
On state assessments administered through the Next Generation MCAS, Edgartown Elementary’s overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades sits above the midpoint relative to districts in Dukes County, meaning it performs in the upper half of that small cohort. In math, just over a third of students in grades three through eight scored at the proficient or advanced level. In English language arts, a bit more than two in five students reached that bar. Science proficiency, which is tested in grades five and eight, was higher, with close to three in five students meeting the standard. Eighth graders also take a social studies assessment, and there the proficiency rate was a little under half. The multi-year trend data shows that performance was stronger before the pandemic, dropped sharply in the 2020-21 school year, and has since been recovering gradually. Both math and ELA rates have inched upward in the most recent two years of available data, though they remain below the levels seen in 2018-19.
Enrollment is modest, with roughly one-third of the student body in the elementary grades and one-third in the middle school grades. The student population is predominantly white, with a substantial Hispanic minority and small shares of Black, multiracial, and American Indian or Alaska Native students. Data on the share of students who qualify for free or reduced-price lunch was not reported, nor were counts for students with disabilities or English learners. Because the school is a regular public school and does not carry a charter or magnet designation, it draws its students from the town’s resident families. No information was available on staffing ratios, chronic absenteeism, or discipline incidents.
Housing in the Edgartown area is very expensive. Home values run well above both the Massachusetts statewide benchmark and the national average, placing affordability out of reach for many working families. The local rental market is also tight, and the cost of shelter as measured by national indices has been rising. For a family considering a move to Edgartown, the price of housing is a central factor that will shape whether the elementary school is an option.
Edgartown Elementary provides a full PK-8 pathway in a historic island town heavily shaped by seasonal tourism. Its academic results, while recovering from the pandemic disruption, fall in the upper half of Dukes County’s districts. Families who place a priority on a small school environment in a walkable, amenity-rich town center will find that fit here. Those considering the school should weigh the high cost of local housing and the fact that high school requires a separate campus and district.
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