The top reported proficiency rate is 27% in Math. The lowest is 18% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Elias Brookings
Elias Brookings is a regular public elementary school in Springfield, Massachusetts, serving students in pre-kindergarten through fifth grade. It is one of many elementary schools within the Springfield school district, the largest urban system in western Massachusetts. The school is located on Walnut Street in the city, which is the urban, economic, and cultural center of the Pioneer Valley. Springfield itself is a dense, historic city with a mix of residential neighborhoods, industrial areas, and a revitalizing downtown that includes the Basketball Hall of Fame, Symphony Hall, and a major casino development. The housing market in the zip code area around the school shows home values well below the Massachusetts state average, consistent with a mid-sized post-industrial city that has experienced both economic challenges and ongoing revitalization efforts. A parent looking at this area would find housing that is relatively affordable compared to much of the state.
The student body is predominantly Hispanic, with a substantial Black population as well. In the most recent data available, the school had an enrollment of roughly several hundred students. The school draws from a community that is economically diverse, and while specific counts for free or reduced-price lunch eligibility were not available in this data, the broader Springfield district serves a high-need population. Students with disabilities and English learner counts were also not provided here, so a parent should ask the school about its specific support programs for these groups. As a PK-5 school, Elias Brookings feeds into a middle school and eventually a high school within the Springfield system, so the elementary experience is one part of a larger K-12 pathway.
On the 2024-25 Massachusetts state assessments, the NextGen MCAS, a share of students at Elias Brookings scored at the proficient level or above in English language arts and in math. The science proficiency rate was lower than the ELA and math rates. These results place the school's overall proficiency below the midpoint when compared to other school districts across Hampden County, which is a wide-ranging set that includes both urban districts like Springfield and wealthier suburban districts. The data does not allow a direct school-to-school comparison within Springfield itself, only this county-level comparison. Looking over a longer period, the multi-year trend data shows that student proficiency in both ELA and math, while generally in a lower range, has moved up and down without a consistent trajectory. The most recent year shows results that are roughly comparable to the levels seen in 2016-17 and 2017-18, after a pronounced dip during the 2021-22 school year. This pattern is common across many schools that serve similar populations. It is worth noting that this is an elementary school; there is no high school graduation rate to examine, as the school does not serve those grades.
No information was available about the school's discipline rates, chronic absenteeism, staffing levels, or specific course offerings. The Springfield district itself did not have a record of major recent changes that a parent would need to track, based on available research. A family evaluating Elias Brookings would want to visit the school, speak with the principal and teachers, and get a sense of the school climate and the specific support structures in place. It is a school that serves a diverse, urban population within one of Massachusetts's larger districts, and its academic results on state tests are in a lower range relative to county peers, though not out of step with the broader context of the city it serves.
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