The top reported proficiency rate is 22% in Science. The lowest is 13% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Martin E Young Elementary
Martin E Young Elementary serves students from kindergarten through fifth grade in Randolph, a suburban town roughly 15 miles south of Boston. The school building is one of several elementary campuses spread across the town, each drawing from its own attendance zone rather than feeding into a single neighborhood school. Randolph itself describes as the most diverse community on the South Shore, and that diversity is reflected in the student body at Young Elementary.
The school enrolls a modest number of children for its grade band. The student population is majority Black, with a substantial Hispanic share, a smaller White contingent, and an Asian cohort making up a meaningful presence. The school has no grade levels above fifth, so there is no graduation rate to report. State testing data is available for all three subjects the state assesses, and participation in those tests was complete, which gives a full picture of academic performance at this school.
On the NextGen MCAS, proficiency rates across math, English language arts, and science place Young Elementary well below the midpoint among elementary schools in Norfolk County. In fact, when looking at the combined proficiency across tested subjects and grades, the school sits in the bottom quartile relative to other districts in the county. The individual subject results follow the same pattern: math and ELA show proficiency rates below the county median, and science, while slightly higher than the other two subjects, remains low in absolute terms.
A look at the trend data over the past several years adds some context. Before the pandemic, ELA proficiency hovered in the range of 40 to 45 percent, while math sat between 35 and 39 percent. After 2020-21, both subjects dropped and have not recovered. ELA has moved between 16 and 32 percent in the years since, and math between 13 and 29 percent. The most recent year sits at the lower end of that post-pandemic range for both subjects. A parent considering this school will want to understand what academic supports the school offers and how the school is working to raise achievement.
The data does not include information on the share of students who qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, nor on special education or English learner designations, so a reader cannot assess the level of economic or linguistic need from these figures. Discipline rates, staffing ratios, and course access are also absent from the available data. The district itself did not appear to have any recent major policy or structural changes that would be evident from web research.
Housing in Randolph is priced above the national median but below the Massachusetts state benchmark, which makes the town more accessible than many communities in the greater Boston area. The typical rent and mortgage costs both represent a significant portion of median household income, a pattern familiar across much of the region. The town has made substantial infrastructure investments in recent years, including a new community center, a library renovation, and park upgrades, but specific school-level facility improvements at Young Elementary were not documented in the available materials.
For a family trying to understand whether this school fits, the core facts are these: it is a racially diverse K-5 building in a commuter town south of Boston, and its state test results are low compared with other schools in Norfolk County and have not returned to pre-pandemic levels. A parent weighing this school will want to ask directly about intervention programs, class sizes, and the school's academic improvement plan, as those details are not in the data reviewed here. The school serves a clearly defined community, but a family whose priority is test-driven academic performance will find stronger numbers elsewhere in the county.
See more original research from School Decision →