The top reported proficiency rate is 57% in Science. The lowest is 37% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Francis W Parker
Francis W Parker is an elementary school in Quincy, serving kindergarten through fifth grade. It is a regular public school within the Quincy school district, located on Billings Road in the city’s Squantum neighborhood. The school has an enrollment that is notably diverse in its racial and ethnic composition. A majority of students are Asian, followed by a substantial share of white students, smaller numbers of Black and Hispanic students, and a modest group of students who identify as two or more races. Data on economic disadvantage, English learner status, and special education enrollment were not reported in the available records, so a reader cannot assess the extent to which the school serves these populations from this source.
On state assessments, students at Parker perform unevenly across subjects. In math, roughly half of students scored at the proficient level or above. In science, the share was moderately higher. In English language arts, the share was lower. Compared with other elementary schools serving these grade levels, the school’s combined proficiency across tested subjects places it below the midpoint among districts in Norfolk County. A parent looking at the trend line over the past several years would see some variation. English language arts proficiency was higher in years prior to the pandemic and has trended lower in the most recent testing cycle. Math proficiency has been more stable, hovering around the same general range with some fluctuation. The most recent year shows a similar pattern: math results are comparable to pre-pandemic levels, while English language arts results are softer than they were several years ago. Participation rates on the tests were very high, which means the results reflect nearly all enrolled students.
The school’s enrollment is spread fairly evenly across kindergarten through fifth grade. The school does not serve middle or high school grades, so there is no graduation rate data, and no information about advanced coursework, career pathways, or college readiness programs that would apply at this level. There were no reported data on discipline incidents, staffing ratios, or chronic absenteeism, so these dimensions cannot be described from the available evidence.
Quincy itself is a dense, urban city that sits just south of Boston and serves as one of its immediate suburbs. It is the largest city in Norfolk County and combines residential neighborhoods with a significant commercial core in Quincy Center. The city has a strong immigrant community, and is both a historic industrial center and a growing business hub. Publicly reported descriptions note that it is considered attractive for its safety, housing stock, and transit connections to Boston. The MBTA Red Line stops in Quincy Center, Wollaston, and North Quincy, providing direct subway access to downtown Boston, and commuter rail also serves the city. The downtown area has undergone a large-scale mixed-use redevelopment effort covering many acres, bringing new housing and commercial space near the train stations. Housing values in the area are elevated, and the rental market reflects that demand. The city includes walkable areas around Quincy Center and the waterfront, though many residential blocks outside the commercial nodes are more auto-oriented. Major civic anchors include the Thomas Crane Public Library, Wollaston Beach, and the Blue Hills Reservation, a large state park that covers a portion of the city’s land. The city’s population grew in the decade leading up to the last census, and additional residential construction has continued near the transit stations.
No recent district-level changes, such as budget developments, leadership transitions, or boundary adjustments, were found in the search results. The district brief returned general profile data but no specific lasting parent-relevant changes. A family considering Parker will find a school with a diverse student body in a city with strong transit access to Boston, where academic performance in math and science is in a moderate range and English language arts results are softer than they have been in some past years.
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