The top reported proficiency rate is 51% in English language arts. The lowest is 32% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Narraguagus High School
Narraguagus High School sits in Harrington, a small working-waterfront town on Maine's northeastern coast in Washington County. The school serves grades seven through twelve and belongs to RSU 37, also called MSAD 37, which covers Harrington and surrounding towns. It is a public, non-charter school with an enrollment that places it on the smaller side for a combined middle-high configuration.
Harrington describes itself as an old seafaring and shipbuilding village, and the local economy still runs on natural-resource work: fishing, clamming in the Harrington River, farming, and wreath production. The Worcester Wreath Company, headquartered in town, is the most prominent employer and the origin of Wreaths Across America. U.S. Route 1 threads through Harrington, and the built environment is scattered along that corridor rather than clustered in a dense downtown. The Downeast Sunrise Trail, a multi-use rail-trail, runs through town and gives residents a non-motorized path for biking, walking, skiing, and horseback riding. The town has seen minimal growth pressure and a slight population decline over recent census cycles, with no major housing developments or commercial projects publicly identified. Civic life centers on the town office, the Gallison Memorial Library on its limited schedule, the Frank E. Woodworth Preserve at the tip of Ripley Neck, and the school itself, which closes in coordination with the district during inclement weather.
State assessment results are available only for the tested grade band, which in Maine covers grades three through eight. Because Narraguagus begins at grade seven, the proficiency figures reflect its seventh and eighth graders only. In English language arts, roughly half of tested students reached proficiency or above, a result that stands as the school's relative strength among the three subjects reported. Mathematics proficiency was lower, with about a third of tested students meeting the bar. Science proficiency came in slightly below that. A parent looking at these numbers should keep in mind that they capture the middle-school-aged students in the building and do not reflect high-school-grade assessments, which were not available in the data provided. Average scale scores were missing, and participation rates were suppressed, so a fuller picture of performance is limited. A parent may want to ask the school directly about high-school-grade assessment results and participation patterns.
The student body is predominantly white, with a Hispanic enrollment that makes up a meaningful minority, and very small representation in other categories. Just under two-fifths of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. Data on students with individualized education programs and English learners was not reported, so the picture of special populations is incomplete here. No staffing figures, course catalogs, Advanced Placement or career-pathway offerings, attendance data, or discipline records were available in the payload, which leaves large gaps in describing the school's academic environment and student support. A family considering Narraguagus would benefit from asking the school directly about its course offerings, extracurriculars, and support services.
Housing in the area is affordable relative to both Maine and national benchmarks. The typical home value in the school's zip code sits well below the state and national medians, and the price-to-income ratio is modest by national standards. Rental data was not available. The economic context includes a thirty-year mortgage rate near current national levels and an unemployment rate that has held steady. Median household income in Maine has risen modestly in recent years.
We looked for parent-relevant district changes such as referendums, curriculum shifts, or property-tax developments and found none publicly reported, so that area is left as a gap rather than guessed. Similarly, no graduation rate, civil-rights data, or neighbor comparison was available for this school.
What the available data describes is a small, rural, combined middle-high school in a coastal Washington County town whose identity is tied to fishing, farming, and wreath-making. The strongest academic signal is in English language arts at the middle-grade level, while mathematics and science results are softer. Families drawn to a quiet, resource-based community with affordable housing and outdoor access along the Downeast coast may find Narraguagus worth a closer look, especially by asking the school to fill in the pieces the public data does not cover.
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