The top reported proficiency rate is 63% in Science. The lowest is 48% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Nathaniel Morton Elementary
Nathaniel Morton Elementary serves students from kindergarten through fifth grade as a regular public school in Plymouth, Massachusetts. It is one of the elementary schools within the Plymouth district, a school system that covers a town often called "America's Hometown" because of its Pilgrim heritage. The school sits in a community that blends a compact, walkable downtown waterfront area with extensive suburban-style residential development that stretches across the largest municipality in the state by land area.
Enrollment is substantial for an elementary school, with students spread fairly evenly across each grade from kindergarten through fifth. The student body is predominantly white, with a Hispanic population making up the next largest share, and smaller groups of students who are Asian, Black, or identify with two or more races. Information on the share of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch was not available in the data reviewed, and neither were counts of students with individualized education programs or English learner status, so a family wanting to understand the economic and special-education profile of the school would want to ask the school directly.
On state assessments administered through Massachusetts’ NextGen MCAS program, the school’s performance places it above the midpoint among districts in Plymouth County, in the top quartile for overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades. That is a solid showing in a county with many school systems. In English language arts, roughly half of students scored proficient or above, a rate that has moved within a relatively narrow band over the past several years, with no dramatic swings. In math, the proficiency rate has also stayed in a similar range but has tended to be a few points lower than ELA, a pattern common to many elementary schools. Science is tested only at grade five, and the proficiency rate there is higher than in either ELA or math, suggesting that older students in the school perform particularly well in that subject. Participation rates on the tests were very high, indicating that nearly every enrolled student took the assessments.
As a kindergarten-through-fifth-grade school, there is no graduation rate to report, and chronic absenteeism data was not available in the records reviewed. The school operates as a regular public school, not a charter or magnet, and its Title I status was not provided.
Plymouth itself is a town with a strong tourism economy centered on its harbor and historic sites, including Plymouth Rock and the Plimoth Patuxet living history museum. Healthcare and social services are the largest industry, with Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital–Plymouth as the biggest employer. The housing market reflects the desirability of the area: home values are substantially above the national typical level, and rents are high as well. The county market shows a modestly high level of demand, and homes do not linger long on the market. For families thinking about buying or renting in the attendance zone, the cost of housing is a significant factor. The town has commuter rail access to Boston, which adds to its appeal for those working in the greater Boston area.
Nathaniel Morton Elementary offers a straightforward elementary program in a school that consistently achieves above-average proficiency relative to other schools in the county. Its academic outcomes are strongest in science and show reasonable stability in reading and math, though math is a softer area a family may wish to discuss with the school. The broader town context provides many civic and recreational amenities, from public beaches to museums, but the school itself is located on a campus outside the downtown core, typical of the town’s suburban layout.
See more original research from School Decision →