Galvin Middle School, Wakefield MA

Original Research by School Decision on Galvin Middle School

Galvin Middle School serves students in fifth through eighth grade in Wakefield, a primarily residential suburb north-northwest of downtown Boston. The town centers on Lake Quannapowitt and Wakefield Common, with a commercial spine along Main Street and two MBTA Commuter Rail stations that connect residents to the city. Wakefield has seen steady population growth in recent years after decades of flat numbers, and housing values in the area are well above national benchmarks, putting the community in a high-cost market. The school is a regular public school, part of the Wakefield district, and draws its student body from the surrounding town.

The student body is predominantly white, with a notable Hispanic population and smaller shares of Asian, Black, and multiracial students. Free or reduced-price lunch data was not available in the profile, so the economic makeup of the student population is not directly measurable from the provided information. The school is of a size that is typical for a middle school serving four grade levels, with enrollment spread fairly evenly across grades five through eight.

On the NextGen MCAS, the state test for Massachusetts, Galvin Middle School’s results place it above the midpoint among districts in Middlesex County when looking at overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades. In English language arts, a majority of students scored proficient or above, and the school’s performance in this subject has held fairly steady over the years covered by the data, hovering in a similar range. In math, roughly half of students met the proficiency mark, with a notable dip visible in the pandemic-era assessment and a recovery since then back to about the same level as pre-pandemic years. Science results for tested grades, which apply to one grade band, show a similar share of students reaching proficiency. Social studies, tested only in eighth grade, also falls in that same range. Across all subjects, math is the area where the school’s proficiency is lowest relative to the others, and a parent may want to ask the school about how it supports students who are not yet meeting the standard in that subject.

The school itself is a regular middle school, and because it does not serve high school grades, there is no graduation rate to report, and the data does not include chronic absenteeism figures. No information on course access, staffing levels, or disciplinary patterns was present in the profile, so those dimensions of the school environment are not available to describe.

Wakefield’s district-level context, based on a search of recent changes, did not turn up major referenda, curriculum shifts, or property-tax changes that would be of immediate concern to a parent. That search may not have captured all local developments, so it is worth checking with the district directly for any active plans or budget discussions.

For a family considering this school, the academic picture is one of a middle school that performs in line with many others in a populous county, with a majority of students reaching proficiency in English and roughly half doing so in math. The town itself offers a suburban commuter lifestyle with a strong recreational anchor at the lake, and the school’s size and grade configuration are conventional for the region. The absence of economic data and the limited information on student support programs leave some questions open, but the core test results give a baseline sense of where the school’s students stand.

See more original research from School Decision →

Academic performance

How students perform on state tests, by grade, set against the district.

Math

Grades 3-850%

School 50% · District 53% · ▼ 2 pts below district

▲ 11 pts above state median · ▼ 4 pts below county median

English language arts

Grades 3-856%

School 56% · District 55% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▲ 15 pts above state median · ▲ 1 pts above county median

Science

Grades 3-857%

School 57% · District 56% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▲ 14 pts above state median · ▼ 1 pts below county median

Social studies

Grade 854%

School 54% · District 53% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▲ 19 pts above state median · ▲ 9 pts above county median

This schoolWakefield, same grade

Graduation rate (ACGR) reflects the federally published Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate for the most recent year available. We refresh this data annually at the close of each academic year in June. The federal source publishes a banded rate (for example, "90-94%") instead of an exact number for cohorts small enough to risk identifying individual students. The state distribution chart, where shown, plots every school in the state with a published rate or band; schools whose rate is federally suppressed are excluded. Where the federal source publishes a band rather than an exact rate, the school is placed within its band using a stable, ID-derived offset, so its position is consistent across visits.

Proficiency by household income

English language arts

Grade 5Lower-income32%Higher-income53%21 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income35%Higher-income58%23 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income30%Higher-income62%32 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income40%Higher-income65%25 pp gap

Grades 3-8Lower-income35%Higher-income60%25 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 5Lower-income27%Higher-income50%23 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income30%Higher-income56%26 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income28%Higher-income57%29 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income31%Higher-income57%25 pp gap

Grades 3-8Lower-income29%Higher-income55%26 pp gap