The top reported proficiency rate is 68% in Math. The lowest is 64% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Alice M Barrows
Alice M Barrows is a regular public elementary school serving kindergarten through grade five in Reading, a primarily residential suburban town north of Boston. It is one of five elementary schools in the Reading district, a system that also includes two middle schools and a high school. Barrows sits in a residential neighborhood on Edgemont Avenue, and like the district’s other elementary buildings, it serves a defined attendance area rather than drawing from across the whole town.
On state assessments, Barrows posts results that place it above the midpoint among the districts of Middlesex County when measured across tested subjects and grades. The school’s proficiency rates in math and English language arts fall at a level that reflects solidly middle-to-upper academic performance for the region, though they are not at the highest tier of the county’s elementary schools. Science proficiency, which is tested at grade five, runs at a comparable level. Participation in state testing is complete, which means the reported results represent nearly every enrolled student in the relevant grades.
Looking at multi-year trends, English language arts proficiency has moved within a fairly consistent band over the past several years, generally staying within a moderate range. Math proficiency has shown some year-to-year variation, with a notable uptick in a recent year followed by a slight pullback. For a parent evaluating academic direction, the pattern suggests a school that performs dependably rather than one on a sharp upward or downward trajectory. The school’s overall proficiency index, which averages across tested subjects, lands above the county median among roughly five dozen districts that reported results.
The student body is predominantly white, with smaller shares of students who are Hispanic, Asian, Black, or identify as two or more races. The school does not report free or reduced-price lunch data, nor does it report the share of students with individualized education programs or English learner classifications, so the socioeconomic and special education context is not available from the data at hand. A parent who wants to know about support services or the economic diversity of the school may need to follow up directly with the school or district for those details.
Reading itself is a town of substantial residential character with a traditional New England downtown near the commuter rail station, which provides direct service to Boston’s North Station. The town’s schools are spread across separate neighborhood campuses rather than clustered downtown, which is typical for a community of this size and density. Housing values in the area are well above national and state medians, reflecting the desirability of the town and its proximity to Boston. Rental costs are also high. This is a market that tends to attract families who are buying in at a premium for access to the school system and commuter infrastructure.
The district brief turned up little in the way of recent high-profile changes or controversies, so Barrows appears to be operating in a period of relative stability for the Reading system. The school itself is a straightforward neighborhood elementary school within a district that has a reputation for strong public schools, and its testing profile supports that reputation in a measured way. For a family considering Reading as a place to live, Barrows represents a typical entry point into the district’s elementary program, and its academic results, while not the very highest in the county, are comfortably above the midpoint and consistent over time. What remains unaddressed in the available data includes classroom staffing ratios, the range of enrichment or intervention programs, and the specific demographic breakdown of students receiving special education or language support. Those are questions a prospective parent may want to explore directly with the school.
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