The top reported proficiency rate is 69% in English language arts. The lowest is 35% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Williams-cone School
Williams-Cone School is a prekindergarten-through-fifth-grade elementary school in Topsham, Maine, serving families in RSU 75 / MSAD 75. It sits on Perkins Street in a town that blends a compact historic core near Pejepscot Falls and the Androscoggin River with broader suburban residential development spreading along rural roads and highway corridors. Topsham borders Brunswick to the south, connected by a pedestrian swinging bridge, and is crossed by interstate and state routes that give parts of the town a commercial-corridor feel. Walkability is limited and concentrated mainly in the village area near the river; outside that core, daily life is largely car-dependent. The town hosts the annual Topsham Fair at its fairgrounds, an agricultural tradition, and civic anchors include the Topsham Public Library and natural areas managed by the Brunswick-Topsham Land Trust, such as the Cathance River Preserve.
The school's academic results on the most recent Maine state assessments are a genuine strength in math and English language arts. Proficiency in math landed well above what many elementary schools post, and ELA results were similarly strong, with the great majority of tested students meeting or exceeding the state standard. Participation was near full across both subjects. These are solid numbers for an elementary school and suggest that core instruction in literacy and numeracy is working well for most students.
Science results tell a different story. Proficiency on the Maine Science Assessment was markedly lower, with only about a third of tested students reaching the proficient threshold. The tested group was smaller, covering only the grades where science is assessed at the elementary level. A parent may want to look into this further with the school, asking how science instruction is structured across the early grades and what supports are in place for students who are not yet proficient.
The student body is modest in size for a PreK-through-five school. It is predominantly white, with small numbers of Hispanic, Black, Asian, and multiracial students. A lower share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch than at many Maine elementary schools, which reflects the generally moderate economic profile of the surrounding area. Data on students with individualized education programs and English learners was not reported, so those proportions are not available here. No information on staffing, attendance, course access, or discipline was provided either, so those dimensions of the school environment could not be assessed.
Topsham's housing market sits above both the Maine state benchmark and the national benchmark for typical home values, with estimated monthly mortgage costs that reflect current interest rates in the mid-six-percent range. Rent data was not available. The town's growth and development trajectory was not detailed in the sources reviewed, though publicly reported census figures indicate population growth over recent decades. We looked for the district's strategic priorities or recent parent-relevant changes but found little, so we left that out rather than guess.
Williams-Cone has no graduation rate, no advanced coursework, and no college or career pathway data, which is expected for an elementary school serving PreK through grade five. No comparison fact-set was provided to position this school against its county peers, so we cannot say where it falls relative to neighboring schools on the available measures. Program offerings beyond the standard elementary curriculum were not reported.
For a family considering this school, the picture is one of strong core academic outcomes in math and reading, a relatively small and demographically homogeneous student body in a suburban town with a housing market above state norms, and a science result that warrants a direct conversation with school staff. The surrounding community offers river access, land-trust preserves, and a regional fair, but limited walkability and a car-oriented layout outside the historic village.
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