The top reported proficiency rate is 73% in Science. The lowest is 50% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Leroy E.mayo
Leroy E. Mayo Elementary School is a regular public school serving grades kindergarten through five, located in the small, suburban town of Holden, Massachusetts. It operates as part of the Wachusett Regional School District, a five-town collaborative that also includes Paxton, Princeton, Rutland, and Sterling. Holden itself is a predominantly residential community, having transitioned after World War II from a farming and mill-village past into a bedroom community largely oriented toward Worcester and Boston employment. The town sits on a landscape of rolling hills with substantial protected open space, watershed lands, and a municipal electric utility. Its school campuses, including Mayo Elementary, sit on separated grounds typical of a suburban layout, distinct from the town's civic center along Main Street.
The school enrolls a sizeable student body for a K-5 building, with classrooms across all six grade levels. Its student composition is substantially white, with smaller shares of Hispanic, Black, Asian, and multiracial students. The data do not report the share of students who qualify for free or reduced-price meals, nor the shares of students with disabilities or English learners, so a parent should seek that information directly from the school to understand the full range of student supports.
On state assessments, the school shows a mixed academic picture. In the most recent testing year, math proficiency landed at roughly the halfway mark, and English language arts proficiency was just above that. Science proficiency was notably stronger. These results place the school's overall academic performance in the top quartile relative to districts across Worcester County, a positive position. However, the school's trend data over the past several years tell a less consistent story. Proficiency rates in both math and ELA have moved in a moderate range from year to year, touching a higher point in the pre-pandemic years and settling at lower levels in the years since, with the most recent reading at about the same level as the prior year in math and a slight uptick in ELA. A parent may want to ask the school about instructional strategies and student supports that have been put in place since the pandemic, given this long and uneven recovery.
Because the school only serves through fifth grade, no graduation rate applies here. There is no data on chronic absenteeism or discipline, so those are gaps a prospective parent would need to fill through a school visit or conversation with the district.
The housing market in the zip code serving Holden is quite expensive, with home values well above the national benchmark and nearly on par with the Massachusetts state average. This reflects Holden's profile as an affluent, professional commuter town, where the median household income is notably above the state average. The town's growth appears steady and moderate, with recent capital projects including a newly built middle school and a renovated regional high school, but no signs of rapid housing development.
Mayo Elementary offers a solid suburban public elementary school experience within a well-regarded regional district. Students who enter here will eventually feed into Mountview Middle School and then Wachusett Regional High School, both shared across the five towns. The academic data shows a school that has historically performed well but is navigating a post-pandemic period with uneven results. For a family who can manage the area's housing costs, the school presents a straightforward option in a community with a strong recreational department, a public library, and substantial nearby open space. The value for a parent lies in visiting the building to get a direct sense of the school climate, classroom dynamics, and the specific supports that might be in place for students who need them, since several key data points are not available in this profile.
See more original research from School Decision →