The top reported proficiency rate is 80% in English language arts. The lowest is 74% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Cushing Community School
Cushing Community School sits on Cross Road in the small coastal town of Cushing, Maine, serving kindergarten through fifth grade as part of RSU 13. The school is tiny, with a total enrollment in the range typical of a rural Maine peninsula community, and its classes are correspondingly small. Every enrolled student is identified as white, and half the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch. The school does not have charter or magnet status. Data on individualized education programs and English-learner counts was not reported, so those figures are absent here rather than suggestive of anything about the school's population. After fifth grade, students move on to Thomaston Grammar School and eventually Oceanside schools in neighboring communities, so Cushing Community is a neighborhood elementary school in the fullest sense: a place where local children begin their formal education before joining the wider RSU 13 pipeline.
On the most recent Maine Through Year Assessment, covering grades three through eight, Cushing Community posted strong proficiency results. In math, roughly three quarters of tested students reached proficiency or above, and in English language arts, nearly eight in ten did. Both figures sit well above what many Maine elementary schools achieve, and participation was complete. Science results for the same testing cycle were suppressed due to a small tested group, which is common for a school this size and does not indicate a problem; the state simply will not publish a rate based on so few test-takers. No multi-year trend data was available, so it is not possible to say whether these results represent steady performance or a recent shift. A parent wanting to understand whether the school sustains this level over time would want to ask the school directly.
The town of Cushing itself shapes the school's character as much as anything in the building. Cushing is a low-density rural community spread across a peninsula between Muscongus Bay and the St. George River in Knox County, with scattered villages including North Cushing, South Cushing, and Pleasant Point. There is no traditional downtown, no walkable commercial center, and no public transit. Civic life clusters around the town office and public library on Cross Road, the harbor, the volunteer fire department and rescue squad, and cultural landmarks like the Olson House, made famous by Andrew Wyeth's painting and operated by the Farnsworth Art Museum in Rockland. The town has a long-standing identity as an artists' enclave, and aquaculture and shellfish harvesting remain meaningful local economic activities, governed by regional shellfish management ordinances. An industrial-scale aquaculture moratorium is in place, publicly reported as reflecting local tension between development and the existing rural character. Employment within town limits is limited to municipal work, maritime activity, and small-scale fishing, so many residents commute to nearby Rockland or Thomaston. The population has been stable to slightly declining, with no major new housing developments or growth pressures evident.
Housing in the Cushing zip code carries a typical home value above both the Maine state benchmark and the national benchmark, reflecting the premium that coastal Knox County properties command. Estimated monthly mortgage costs at current rates run higher than estimated local rent, and the price-to-income ratio sits well above the national figure, which points to a market where buying is stretched relative to local earnings. For families considering a move here, that means housing costs are a real factor alongside the school question. Rent data was not available, so a full rent-versus-own comparison is not possible from what was provided.
What the data describes, taken together, is a very small, homogeneous elementary school in an insular coastal community, delivering academically strong early-grade outcomes relative to the state. The school's size means close-knit classes and likely deep familiarity among staff and families, but it also means that some published metrics get suppressed and that program breadth is inherently limited at this level. Cushing Community School fits a family looking for a quiet rural setting, a small peer group for their young child, and solid early instruction in reading and math. Families expecting diversity, a wide range of specialized programs, or an easy walk to town amenities would find those absent here, not as failings but as features of the place itself.
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