The top reported proficiency rate is 39% in Science. The lowest is 16% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Washington
Washington is a regular public elementary school serving pre-kindergarten through fifth grade in Springfield, Massachusetts. The school is part of the Springfield Public Schools district. For a family considering this school, the first thing to understand is that its state assessment results, based on the NextGen MCAS, show a student body where most children are still building toward grade-level proficiency. In the most recent test year, in math about one in six students met the proficient or higher benchmark, and in English language arts about one in six did as well. Science results, which are only tested at one grade level in this band, were higher, with roughly two in five students reaching proficiency. These numbers place Washington’s overall proficiency performance below the midpoint when compared against other public school districts in Hampden County, a comparison set that includes a range of urban, suburban, and rural systems.
The academic picture at Washington has been through a notable shift over time. In the years before the pandemic, the school’s proficiency rates in both ELA and math were higher, climbing in the 2018-19 school year to roughly two in five students proficient in math and nearly half in ELA. After a sharp drop during the pandemic, rates have remained well below those earlier levels, with modest movement up and down in the years since. This pattern is common across many schools in communities that faced significant disruption, and a parent may want to ask the school about current interventions and support structures for getting students back on grade level.
The student body at Washington is diverse. A substantial majority of students identify as Hispanic, with Black students as the second-largest group and smaller shares of students who are white, Asian, or of two or more races. Free or reduced-price lunch eligibility count and rate were not available in the data we reviewed, though for a school like Washington in a city like Springfield a family should expect that a significant share of students come from low-income households. Information on students with disabilities and English learner status was also missing from the data we examined, so those are gaps a family would want to fill in directly with the school.
Springfield itself is the largest city in western Massachusetts and the economic hub of the Pioneer Valley. It is an older industrial city with a dense, walkable downtown, Victorian-era housing stock, and major civic anchors including the Basketball Hall of Fame, Forest Park, and the Springfield Armory. The city has seen revitalization investment in recent years, including a casino resort and a redeveloped Union Station. Housing values in the zip code area around Washington are well below the Massachusetts state benchmark and close to the national median, and rental prices are moderately lower than the mortgage cost of buying, making the area relatively affordable by Massachusetts standards. That said, the housing market in Hampden County shows strong demand with limited supply, a dynamic that can put pressure on both buyers and renters.
Washington serves only through fifth grade, so there is no graduation rate data, and the school offers no high school programs like AP or career pathways to report. This is a neighborhood elementary school in a midsized urban district, and the academic data suggests it is a place where most students are not yet meeting state proficiency targets, a reality that is often tied to the concentrated poverty and resource challenges faced by schools in similar settings. A parent considering Washington will want to understand what academic supports, tutoring, or extended learning opportunities the school offers, and how the school communicates with families about student progress. The school’s website and its principal’s office are the best sources for the current state of programming and staff, as the data we reviewed does not include program offerings or staffing ratios.
See more original research from School Decision →