The top reported proficiency rate is 67% in Science. The lowest is 54% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Charles E Roderick
Charles E Roderick is a regular public school in Wrentham, Massachusetts, serving grades four through six. It sits on a shared elementary campus with the district’s other elementary buildings off Taunton Street, in the center of town but separate from the downtown area. The school is part of the Wrentham district; after sixth grade, students move on to King Philip Regional Middle School in Norfolk and then King Philip Regional High School, which serves Wrentham, Norfolk, and Plainville.
Academically, the school performs above the midpoint among all districts in Norfolk County when looking at overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades. The most recent state test results show that a majority of students meet or exceed proficiency in math and English language arts, though the shares are close to half rather than commanding. Science, which is tested only in fifth grade in this building, posts a higher proficiency rate. These are solid numbers in a county of generally strong performance, but they represent a meaningful decline from the school’s own pre-pandemic results. In the years just before the pandemic, both math and ELA proficiency were in the low to mid-70s. After a sharp drop during the 2020-21 school year, scores have recovered somewhat but remain a good distance below that earlier level. A parent looking at entry into fourth grade will see a school that has lost ground and has not yet fully climbed back.
The student body is predominantly white, and the school enrolls a small number of students from other racial and ethnic backgrounds. Data on how many students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, receive special education services, or are English learners was not available. Families should ask the school directly about these support structures if those are important to them. The school does not have a Title I designation on record, which often indicates a relatively lower share of low-income students, but that status was listed as null, so the picture is incomplete.
Class sizes appear moderate. The school has roughly 370 students across three grades, with the largest cohort in sixth grade. With the building serving only three grades, students experience a concentrated upper-elementary environment before transitioning to regional middle school.
Wrentham itself is a primarily residential town with small-town New England character, set midway between Boston and Providence. It has three lakes, extensive conservation land and open space, and a rural western section around Sheldonville that still has active orchards. The town is low-density and car-dependent; street life is centered on the traditional downtown along South Street, but most residential areas and the school campus are set apart. Housing values are high, consistent with the Boston-area market, and rents are steep relative to median incomes. The town manages growth through planning boards and a community preservation committee, but no major housing developments were identified in recent records. For families considering a move, this is an established, low-turnover community with limited rental supply and a strong owner-occupied housing stock.
The school has no recent district-level changes reported, and no information on program offerings, extracurriculars, or staffing was available in this data set. There are no test or performance metrics for grades below four or above six, so a parent who wants a full K-12 picture will need to look at the elementary school that feeds into Roderick and the regional secondary schools separately.
In short, Charles E Roderick offers a stable, above-county-average academic setting in a quiet suburban town, but with a performance trend that has sagged from a higher prior level. It fits a family looking for a conventional public school in a residential, conservation-minded community with strong housing equity stakes, though the missing data on support services means a proactive conversation with the school is warranted if those matter to your child.
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