The top reported proficiency rate is 56% in English language arts. The lowest is 44% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Moscow Elementary
Moscow Elementary sits in Bingham, a small rural town in Somerset County, Maine, along the Kennebec River. The school serves pre-kindergarten through fourth grade and is part of RSU 83/MSAD 13, a district covering Bingham and the neighboring town of Moscow. This is a very small school even by rural Maine standards, with only a handful of students per grade level. That size shapes nearly everything about the experience here, from how instruction is organized to how state test results should be read.
Bingham itself is a quiet community with a long history tied to logging and pulpwood. It once served as a loading point along the Maine Central Railroad, where pulpwood was floated down the Kennebec River until environmental regulations ended log driving in the 1970s. Today the town functions as a residential rural community along U.S. Route 201, the Old Canada Road, with limited commercial activity and no walkable downtown to speak of. The population has been in long-term decline, and no major housing developments or growth initiatives surfaced in publicly reported sources. The housing market here is notably affordable compared with both Maine as a whole and the national picture, with typical home values well below state benchmarks and a price-to-income ratio that suggests buying a home is within reach for many working families in the area. Rental data was not available.
On the most recent Maine Through Year Assessment, roughly half of the tested students at Moscow Elementary reached proficiency in English language arts, and somewhat fewer than half reached proficiency in math. Only students in the tested grades, third and fourth, are reflected in these results, and the tested group is quite small. In a group this size, the proficiency of one or two children shifts the picture considerably, so a parent may want to look into this further with the school rather than treating the results as a stable trend line. Full participation was reported, which means every eligible student was tested. No multi-year trend data was available, so there is no way to tell from the provided data whether these results represent improvement, decline, or a steady state. Average scale scores were also missing.
A substantial share of students here qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting the economic realities of the surrounding community. The student body is predominantly white, with a very small number of students from other racial or ethnic backgrounds. Data on students with individualized education programs and English learners was not reported, so we cannot characterize those populations from what is available. Information on discipline, course access, staffing ratios, attendance, and Title I status was also absent from the data provided. The school's locale classification and school type were not specified, though the location and district context make clear this is a rural public elementary school.
For a family considering Moscow Elementary, the defining features are intimacy and rural setting. Children here attend school in a small cohort where teachers likely know every student by name. The broader community is quiet, affordable, and closely tied to the natural landscape of the Kennebec River valley, but it is also one where economic opportunity is limited and the population has been shrinking over time. The district did not surface any publicly reported referendums, curriculum overhauls, or other changes meeting a lasting-impact threshold in recent years, which suggests a measure of stability, though it may also reflect the limited attention small rural districts receive in public reporting.
Families drawn to rural life, small class sizes, and a tight-knit school community may find Moscow Elementary a good fit, particularly if they value proximity to outdoor recreation and a low cost of living. Those seeking specialized programs, broad extracurricular offerings, or a more diverse peer environment would likely need to look elsewhere, as the scale and setting of this school do not support those features. The academic results are mixed and based on a very small number of test-takers, so the most useful next step for an interested parent would be a direct conversation with the school about how instruction is delivered across combined grade levels and what supports are in place for children at different points in their early education.
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