The top reported proficiency rate is 59% in English language arts. The lowest is 39% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Park Avenue Elementary School
Park Avenue Elementary School sits on Park Avenue in Auburn, Maine, serving children from pre-kindergarten through sixth grade. It is one of eight schools in the Auburn Public Schools district, a public, non-charter building anchored in a city that has reshaped itself over the past several decades.
Auburn is the county seat of Androscoggin County and forms, with neighboring Lewiston across the Androscoggin River, the Twin Cities metro area. The city blends residential neighborhoods, commercial corridors, and institutional employers. Historically a shoe-manufacturing mill town, Auburn saw its largest manufacturers close over a span of decades and has since diversified its economy. Neighborhoods such as Danville, East Auburn, New Auburn, North Auburn, Stevens Mill, Littlefield Corner, and Marston Corner give the city a varied residential fabric. Commercial activity centers around the Auburn Mall area, and institutional anchors include Central Maine Community College and the Good Shepherd Food Bank's main warehouse. A portion of households have children under eighteen, and the city carries a mix of urban and rural character.
The housing market here is relatively accessible compared with state and national benchmarks. Typical home values in the school's zip code sit below both the Maine statewide average and the national figure, and rents are modest relative to income. The price-to-income ratio falls below what many families face in higher-cost markets, and renting absorbs a smaller share of household income than a mortgage would at current rates. For families weighing a move into the attendance zone, housing costs are a point of relative affordability.
Park Avenue's enrollment is moderate for an elementary school spanning pre-kindergarten through sixth grade. The student body reflects Auburn's demographics in a distinctive way: about half the students identify as white and a substantial portion identify as Black, with smaller shares of Hispanic, multiracial, Asian, and American Indian students. A substantial majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which places the school among those serving a higher-need population economically. Data on students with individualized education programs and English learners was not available, so those population sizes remain unknown here.
On state assessments, the most recent results paint a mixed academic picture. In English language arts, a majority of tested students reached proficiency, a result that stands as a relative strength for the school. Mathematics proficiency was lower, with fewer than half of tested students meeting the state bar. Science results were suppressed, so no proficiency figure is available for that subject, though participation was full. Average scale scores were not reported for any subject. No multi-year trend data was available, so it is not possible to say from this data whether performance is improving, declining, or holding steady. Participation rates in math and ELA were high, meaning the proficiency figures reflect nearly all eligible students.
The school does not serve high school grades, so there is no graduation rate to report. That absence reflects the grade band the school serves, since graduation is measured at the high school level. Civil-rights data, discipline information, course access details, staffing figures, and attendance data were not available in the provided materials. A neighbor comparison among county schools was also not provided, so Park Avenue's results cannot be positioned directly against nearby schools here.
At the district level, several developments are relevant to families. In November 2024, Auburn voters approved two school bond questions: one for a new boiler system plus security and accessibility upgrades across district buildings, and another to renovate the transition program building at Edward Little High School. These represent lasting infrastructure investments. The school committee also approved a budget for the 2024-25 year that increased from the prior year, shaping staffing, programs, and class sizes. Looking further ahead, district officials have publicly discussed the possibility of consolidating elementary schools as part of long-term facilities planning, a conversation that could eventually reshape school assignments and feeder patterns. Families considering Park Avenue may want to follow how those consolidation discussions develop.
What Park Avenue offers is a community school in a diversifying small city, with solid reading outcomes, a math proficiency level that a parent may want to look into further with the school, and a student body that reflects a broad economic and racial mix. The district is investing in its buildings, and the locale keeps housing within reach. The open questions are the ones the data does not answer: staffing ratios, discipline patterns, special populations, and the direction of academic results over time.
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