The top reported proficiency rate is 55% in Math. The lowest is 53% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Tatham
Tatham is one of the elementary schools serving the West Springfield public school district, a regular public school that enrolls students from first through fifth grade. It sits in a mixed suburban and commercial part of the community, a town known for its position at the intersection of major highways and as the home of the Eastern States Exposition fairgrounds. The school’s enrollment draws from the surrounding residential neighborhoods, and the student body is majority white, with a Hispanic population representing around one in seven students, smaller shares of Black and Asian students, and a modest number of students who identify as two or more races. Data on the share of students qualifying for free or reduced-price meals, receiving special education services, or classified as English learners was not available, so a parent wanting a full picture of the school’s economic and support-service profile should ask the school directly about those figures.
Academically, Tatham’s performance on the Next Generation MCAS state assessments is a clear strength relative to other districts in Hampden County. When all tested subjects and grades are combined into a single proficiency index, the school lands in the top quartile among the county’s school districts. The most recent results show that roughly half or more of tested students scored at the proficient level in math, English language arts, and science, with participation rates reported at full. The multi-year trend tells a story of disruption and recovery. In the years before the pandemic, proficiency rates in both math and ELA were higher, at around seven in ten in each subject. They fell sharply during the 2020-21 and 2021-22 school years, bottoming out at about a quarter of students in math and just under a third in ELA in the 2021-22 testing cycle. Since then, the school has posted steady gains; the latest figures show proficiency rates that have climbed back to about half of students—a pace of recovery that is solid but has not yet returned to pre-2019 peaks. A parent may want to discuss with the school how it is supporting students who are still working to reach earlier benchmarks.
The school serves a narrow primary-grade span, so there is no graduation rate to report, and course-access or program offerings like advanced coursework or career pathways do not apply to this age group. In an elementary setting, the academic focus is on building foundational skills. The available data offers no detail on discipline rates, chronic absenteeism, or staffing ratios, so those are areas a prospective family may wish to explore in a school visit.
West Springfield itself is an auto-dependent suburban community with commercial corridors along its major routes. Housing values in the area sit below the Massachusetts state benchmark but above the national median, with modest year-over-year increases. The rental market is active, and the countywide housing supply is tight, with homes often selling or pending quickly. The town’s civic anchors include the Eastern States Exposition grounds and recreational spaces like Bear Hole conservation area. No major recent changes within the West Springfield school district were identified in publicly available sources, and the district brief flagged no significant parent-relevant developments.
For a family looking at elementary options in West Springfield, Tatham presents the profile of a school that has climbed back from pandemic-era losses to a level of proficiency that compares favorably with other districts in the county, even though its absolute scores sit around the halfway mark. Its student body is not especially diverse in racial or ethnic terms, though the absence of economic and special-education data makes it hard to assess the full range of student needs. The suburban setting with highway access is a characteristic that suits families who are comfortable with a car-dependent layout and want a school that serves a narrower grade band before students move on to a separate intermediate or middle school.
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