The top reported proficiency rate is 46% in Math. The lowest is 31% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Highland
Highland serves students from pre-kindergarten through fourth grade in Westfield, a city of roughly that size that has been reshaped by the growth of Westfield State University and the decline of older manufacturing. The school sits in a district where a major facilities change recently landed. Voters approved a debt exclusion in a recent year that raised property taxes above the usual state limit to fund a new elementary school, Westfield River Elementary, which opened in early 2025 and consolidated two older buildings. The FY26 district budget increased to support level services, and families in the district are carrying the cost of that bond through a multi-year property tax increase. This bond-funded consolidation directly affects Highland in that the district is now operating with a new flagship elementary building elsewhere, while Highland remains one of five elementary schools in the system.
Highland is a regular public school, not a charter or magnet. Its enrollment is at the modest end for a PK-4 building, and the student body is predominantly white, with a notable share of Hispanic students and smaller populations of Asian students, students of two or more races, and Black students. The school serves early grades only, so it has no graduation rate to report, and no data was available on the share of students who qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, on special education classification rates, or on English learner identification. A parent or guardian should ask the school directly for those numbers if they matter for their child's potential placement.
On the 2024-25 Next Generation MCAS, the state assessment for Massachusetts, Highland's results place it in the top quartile for overall proficiency across tested subjects relative to districts in Hampden County. That positioning is a genuine strength for this school. In math, roughly half of tested students scored at the proficient or advanced level, and the school's average scale score was well within the state's proficient range. In English language arts, the share of students reaching proficiency was under two-fifths, which is lower, and this is a soft spot that a family should look into further with the school, especially to understand what literacy supports are in place and how they are trending.
Looking at the trend data over the past several years, the picture is mixed and worth watching. In both math and English language arts, proficiency rates have moved up and down from one year to the next without a clear upward trajectory. ELA proficiency was higher in the years just before the pandemic and has drifted down in more recent years. Math proficiency has also fluctuated, with a low point in the 2020-21 testing cycle followed by a bounce and another dip. The most recent math result, from the 2024-25 tests, showed a rebound. This pattern suggests that this school has not established a steady trend in either direction, and a family may want to ask the principal about recent instructional changes or interventions, if any, that the school is using to address literacy and math growth.
Because the school tests students only in grades 3 and 4 for ELA and math, the results you see reflect only those two grade levels. Science testing data was available only from an earlier year and a different test, so it is not current. The school participates in assessments at a high rate, with near-perfect participation in the tested grades, so the results are representative of the full cohort.
Westfield itself is a city split by the Westfield River, with a north side that has become a warehousing and distribution hub for companies like C&S Wholesale, Home Depot, and Lowe's, and a south side shaped by Westfield State University and a declining manufacturing base. The downtown business district increasingly caters to university students, while mainstream retail has moved to an auto-oriented strip along East Main Street, part of U.S. Route 20. Major employers include the university, Baystate Noble Hospital, Western Massachusetts Hospital, and the distribution centers. The city has a history of severe flooding from the river despite a system of dikes and pumps, and traffic congestion, particularly around the Massachusetts Turnpike exit 41 interchange, is a noted concern. Stanley Park is a major civic amenity, and the Metacomet-Monadnock Trail runs along the trap rock ridges that border the city to the east.
For families considering Highland, the school offers a solid academic start relative to its county peers, with a math result that is a clear point of strength and an ELA result that is weaker. The school's position in a district that has just invested heavily in a new elementary building means district resources have been concentrated on that new site, and the property tax increase that funds it is a fact of life for residents. The lack of data on free lunch eligibility, special education, and English learner populations is a gap that the school can fill for any family who needs that information. The housing market in the area, as reflected in the county-level data, shows a typical mix of single-family homes and rentals, with home values and rents both rising at a moderate pace, and the market is competitive, with homes selling quickly.
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