The top reported proficiency rate is 46% in English language arts. The lowest is 43% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Clifford H Marshall Elementary
Clifford H Marshall Elementary is a regular public school serving kindergarten through fourth grade in Quincy, a dense urban city that functions as one of Boston’s immediate southern suburbs. The school sits in a city that blends residential neighborhoods with commercial nodes, particularly around Quincy Center, and has a strong immigrant community. Quincy Center is walkable and anchored by MBTA Red Line stations that provide direct subway access into downtown Boston, making it a location that appeals to families who want city and transit connections within a suburban residential texture.
The school’s enrollment is of a size that supports a neighborhood elementary feel. The student body is notably diverse. The largest single group is Asian students, who make up a substantial share of enrollment, followed by white students. Black and Hispanic students each make up a modest share, and a smaller number of students identify as two or more races. This composition is a plain characteristic of the school’s community and reflects Quincy’s demographic mix.
Academically, the most recent state testing data from the NextGen MCAS provides a clear picture for the grades tested, which are third and fourth. Performance is below the midpoint for proficiency across tested subjects and grades when compared to other schools relative to districts in Norfolk County. In both English language arts and math, roughly in the low-to-mid forties percent of students scored proficient or above. Looking back over the available trend data, these results represent a decline from pre-pandemic levels, when the school consistently saw proficiency rates above half in both subjects, reaching as high as the mid-sixties in math. Performance has stabilized in recent years below those earlier marks, and recovery to the previous highs has not yet occurred. A parent may want to look into this further with the school to understand the specific supports in place.
Free or reduced-price lunch data was not available in the provided records, so the share of students experiencing economic disadvantage is not reported here. Data on students with disabilities and English learners was also missing.
The school serves only early elementary grades, so there is no graduation rate to report, and the data provided does not include information on course access, staffing ratios, discipline rates, or attendance patterns.
Quincy’s housing market is expensive. Home values and rents are both above national benchmarks, placing the city in a high-cost region. The market is active, with homes selling relatively quickly after listing, and the area has seen ongoing growth and redevelopment, particularly transit-oriented projects near the Red Line stations.
The district itself does not show any recent major parent-relevant changes in the available public records, so this narrative reports that no such changes were found rather than guessing.
For a family considering Clifford H Marshall, this is a diverse, urban-suburban elementary school in a city with strong transit links to Boston. The academic profile shows a school that is working to return to the higher performance levels it posted before the pandemic, and the current results fall below the county midpoint. The school’s setting is walkable in parts, particularly near Quincy Center, and the city offers a mix of historic and civic anchors. This is not a school with standout test scores, but its location, diversity, and neighborhood scale may appeal to families for whom those factors are priorities.
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