The top reported proficiency rate is 63% in English language arts. The lowest is 12% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Turner Elementary School
Turner Elementary School sits in the foothills of western Maine, in a rural, primarily residential town that borders the Lewiston-Auburn area to the south. The town spreads across a large area of farmland, forest, and separate village centers, with civic life anchored by a historic village center, a public library, and the Nezinscot River. It is the kind of place families seek out for quiet living with access to a small city nearby, and the housing market reflects that: typical home values run close to the state benchmark, with a high homeownership rate and slow, plateauing population growth. The community is auto-dependent by nature, with no public transit evident.
The school serves grades three through six and has a modest enrollment for that band. About a quarter of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which is a relatively low share for a Maine public elementary school. The student body is predominantly white, with small Hispanic, Black, and multiracial populations. Data on special education enrollment and English learners was not reported, so those profiles remain unknown here.
Academically, the most recent state assessment results tell a mixed but mostly encouraging story for English language arts. Well over half of tested students reached proficiency in ELA, which is a solid result and a genuine strength of the school. Math results sit close to the halfway mark, with just under half of students proficient. Participation was near universal in both subjects, which gives the results credibility. A parent reading these numbers can feel reasonably confident about literacy instruction in particular and can see math as adequate but with room to grow.
Science is the clear soft spot. Only a small fraction of tested students reached proficiency, and the tested group is narrower than the full school because science is assessed at specific grades rather than across the whole band. The result is low enough that a parent may want to look into this further with the school, asking what instruction looks like in science and how the district supports it. It is possible this reflects a curricular gap or a testing-year anomaly, but the data alone does not explain the cause.
No graduation rate applies here, since the school does not serve high school grades. The same is true of course access data, which is not reported for an elementary school serving this grade range. Information on Title I status, staffing levels, attendance, discipline, and program offerings was not available in the data provided. The parent district, RSU 52/MSAD 52, had no recent parent-relevant changes identified in available public reporting, so there is little to report on recent referendums, curriculum shifts, or fiscal developments.
What a family gets at Turner Elementary is a small-town, upper-elementary school in a quiet, rural-residential community with a strong homeownership base and proximity to a regional employment center in Lewiston-Auburn. Literacy outcomes are a real strength, math is middling, and science is a concern worth asking about. The missing data on special populations and programs means a parent would need to contact the school directly to understand supports for students with individualized needs and what enrichment or intervention options exist beyond what state testing captures.
See more original research from School Decision →