The top reported proficiency rate is 74% in English language arts. The lowest is 42% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Windsor Elementary School
Windsor Elementary School sits on Ridge Road in the small rural town of Windsor, Maine, part of RSU 12. It serves kindergarten through eighth grade, which means it functions as both an elementary and a middle school under one roof. The enrollment is moderate for a rural Maine school serving this grade span, with relatively even distribution across the nine grade levels. The student body is predominantly white, and a modest but meaningful share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. The school is a conventional public school, not a charter or magnet, and it carries no Title I designation in the data provided.
On state assessments, Windsor Elementary shows real academic strength in English language arts, with a clear majority of tested students in grades three through eight reaching proficiency. Mathematics results are also solid, with most students proficient. Participation in testing was near-universal across both subjects. Science results tell a different story. Proficiency in science was markedly lower, with fewer than half of tested students meeting the benchmark. A parent may want to look into this further with the school, particularly how science instruction is sequenced and supported across the tested grade levels. No multi-year trend data was available, so it is not possible to say whether these results represent improvement, decline, or stability over time.
Several data points that parents often look for were not available. IEP and English learner counts were missing from the data, so the picture of special populations and language support is incomplete. No staffing, attendance, discipline, or course access information was provided. Because the school does not serve high school grades, there is no graduation rate to report. These gaps reflect the grade band served rather than any omission by the school itself.
The town of Windsor shapes the school environment in ways a family should understand. Windsor is a spread-out rural community in Kennebec County with very low population density. There is no traditional downtown, no commercial corridor, no sidewalks or pedestrian infrastructure to speak of. Civic life in the town clusters around a few anchors: the town office on Belfast Road, a volunteer fire department, a transfer station, and the school itself. Town meetings are held in the Windsor School gymnasium, which tells you something about how central this building is to community life. There is no public library, no parks system, and no public transit. No major private employer was identified in publicly reported sources; town government appears to be the primary local employer.
Growth has been very slow over the past decade, and the town has a draft comprehensive plan on its website, suggesting some forward planning but no building boom. The housing market in the area has seen meaningful appreciation recently, with home values rising at a pace above both state and national benchmarks. At the same time, estimated monthly mortgage costs remain below typical rent costs in the area, and the price-to-income ratio sits below national levels, which suggests that buying a home here may be relatively manageable for households earning around the state median income. Rents, where available, appear to consume a reasonable share of income compared to many markets.
What kind of place is this for a family? Windsor Elementary offers a small, community-anchored school in a genuinely rural setting, where the building doubles as the town's gathering place and the student body is tight-knit and homogeneous. Academic results in reading and math are a genuine strength. Science is the area that stands out as needing attention. Parents considering this school are choosing a quiet, car-dependent lifestyle with limited town amenities but strong community identity and a school that performs well in core literacy and numeracy. The lack of data on special populations, staffing, and programs means families with specific needs should ask direct questions of the school and district before deciding.
See more original research from School Decision →