Strong Foundations Charter School, Pembroke NH

Original Research by School Decision on Strong Foundations Charter School

Strong Foundations Charter School sits on Riverwood Drive in Pembroke, New Hampshire, serving kindergarten through eighth grade as a public charter school. Pembroke itself is a residential town in Merrimack County with a mill-town past along the Suncook River, where textile operations like Pembroke Mills and China Manufacturing once ran on waterpower. Today the town is largely car-dependent, with the village of Suncook as its closest thing to a commercial center. Three rivers border the community, and Interstate and state routes cross it, giving residents straightforward access to Concord and the broader southern New Hampshire region. The town has been growing modestly, with residential development pressure typical of communities near the capital.

The school is small for its grade band, with one class per grade and roughly thirty to forty students per grade level. Its enrollment is predominantly white, with a small Asian student presence and very few Black, Hispanic, or multiracial students. The share of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch is relatively low compared with many public schools, suggesting a student body that skews toward working and middle-class families rather than concentrated economic need. Data on students with individualized education programs and English learners was not available, so those populations cannot be characterized here.

As a charter school operating as its own district, Strong Foundations has no graduation rate to report because it does not serve high school grades. The same grade-band structure means the state's high school assessments do not apply. No comparison fact-set was provided for this school, so its positioning against neighboring districts in the county cannot be rendered.

On New Hampshire's state assessments for the most recent reported year, proficiency across grades and subjects was generally modest. In mathematics, results varied considerably by grade. Fourth grade stood out as the strongest, with a majority of tested students reaching proficiency. Third and sixth grades landed in a middling range, while fifth, seventh, and eighth grades showed lower proficiency levels, with only a quarter to roughly a third of students meeting the state bar. The pattern in English language arts was somewhat steadier across the upper elementary grades, with proficiency in the low-to-mid range, before dipping in seventh grade and partially recovering in eighth. Fourth grade again posted the strongest ELA result. Science, assessed only in fifth and eighth grades, showed roughly a third or fewer students proficient in both. Participation rates were high across nearly all grades and subjects, which means the results reflect most enrolled students rather than a narrow subset.

No multi-year trend data was available, so whether these proficiency levels represent improvement, decline, or stability over time cannot be determined. A parent evaluating the academic program may want to ask the school directly about its trajectory and what interventions or curricular shifts are in place for the grades where proficiency runs lowest. The school's charter structure allows it to define its own approach, and publicly reported background references a Core Knowledge curriculum adoption in its earlier years, though current program details were not included in the available data.

Housing in the school's zip code sits below the New Hampshire state benchmark but well above the national figure, and rents are moderate relative to the region. For families considering relocating to the area, Pembroke offers a quieter, spread-out residential setting with river geography and highway access, rather than a dense walkable town center. The housing market has been appreciating, consistent with the broader southern New Hampshire pattern.

Information on course offerings, extracurricular programs, staffing ratios, discipline data, and attendance was not available. Civil rights data was also absent. These gaps mean the picture here is limited to enrollment composition, state test results, and the surrounding community. Families considering Strong Foundations would benefit from visiting the school and asking about its instructional model, support services, and how it addresses the grade levels where assessment results are weakest.

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Academic performance

How students perform on state tests, by grade, set against the district.

Math

Grade 332%

School 32% · District 32%

▼ 22 pts below state median · ▼ 22 pts below county median

Grade 455%

School 55% · District 55%

▲ 5 pts above state median · ▲ 1 pts above county median

Grade 521%

School 21% · District 21%

▼ 18 pts below state median · ▼ 10 pts below county median

Grade 639%

School 39% · District 39%

▼ 1 pts below state median · ▼ 2 pts below county median

Grade 727%

School 27% · District 27%

▼ 11 pts below state median · ▼ 12 pts below county median

Grade 824%

School 24% · District 24%

▼ 12 pts below state median · ▼ 10 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 342%

School 42% · District 42%

▼ 8 pts below state median · ▼ 12 pts below county median

Grade 455%

School 55% · District 55%

▲ 2 pts above state median · ▲ 1 pts above county median

Grade 541%

School 41% · District 41%

▼ 17 pts below state median · ▼ 20 pts below county median

Grade 639%

School 39% · District 39%

▼ 13 pts below state median · ▼ 13 pts below county median

Grade 727%

School 27% · District 27%

▼ 29 pts below state median · ▼ 29 pts below county median

Grade 839%

School 39% · District 39%

▼ 14 pts below state median · ▼ 14 pts below county median

Science

Grade 532%

School 32% · District 32%

▼ 3 pts below state median · ▼ 5 pts below county median

Grade 829%

School 29% · District 29%

▼ 7 pts below state median · ▼ 7 pts below county median

This schoolStrong Foundations Charter School, same grade

Graduation rate (ACGR) reflects the federally published Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate for the most recent year available. We refresh this data annually at the close of each academic year in June. The federal source publishes a banded rate (for example, "90-94%") instead of an exact number for cohorts small enough to risk identifying individual students. The state distribution chart, where shown, plots every school in the state with a published rate or band; schools whose rate is federally suppressed are excluded. Where the federal source publishes a band rather than an exact rate, the school is placed within its band using a stable, ID-derived offset, so its position is consistent across visits.

Proficiency by household income

English language arts

Grade 3Lower-income21%Higher-income55%34 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income25%Higher-income50%25 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income36%Higher-income40%4 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income21%Higher-income39%18 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income8%Higher-income29%21 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income18%Higher-income48%30 pp gap