The top reported proficiency rate is 82% in English language arts. The lowest is 78% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Main Street School
Main Street School sits in the heart of Exeter, a historic seacoast town in Rockingham County, New Hampshire. The school serves the earliest learners in the Exeter School District, covering prekindergarten through second grade. It is a regular public school, not a charter or magnet, and it sits downtown on Main Street, close to the town's civic core along Front Street and the Exeter River. Families choosing this school are choosing an early-childhood and primary-grade experience in a walkable, historic New England setting with strong community anchors.
The town of Exeter carries a distinct identity. Phillips Exeter Academy, one of the country's premier private boarding schools, occupies a large portion of the downtown and shapes the cultural atmosphere. Exeter Hospital provides full-service medical care, and corporate employers like Bauer Hockey and SIG Sauer give the town an economic base beyond education and government. The Amtrak Downeaster station on Lincoln Street is the busiest New Hampshire stop on the line, offering direct rail service to Boston and Portland. Swasey Parkway and Founders Park anchor civic life along the river. The built environment reflects seventeenth- and eighteenth-century origins, with several historic landmarks still standing. For parents, this means Main Street School is embedded in a town that blends small-scale historic charm with real economic activity and commuter access to the broader seacoast and Boston corridor.
Housing in Exeter is expensive relative to both state and national benchmarks. The typical home value in the school's zip code sits well above the state median and roughly double the national figure. Rents are also elevated, though the gap between monthly rent and monthly mortgage costs is wide, with buying requiring a substantially larger outlay. The county housing market shows strong demand and tightening supply, with homes moving quickly when listed. Families relocating to Exeter for this school should expect a high-cost housing market, and rental options may be the more accessible entry point for some.
The school's enrollment is moderate for its grade band, serving children across prekindergarten, kindergarten, first grade, and second grade. The student body is predominantly white, with small representations from other racial and ethnic groups. A modest share of students qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, below what many public schools see, which reflects the relative affluence of the surrounding community. Data on students with individualized education programs and English learners was not reported, so a parent may want to ask the school directly about special education services and language support.
Because Main Street School serves only prekindergarten through second grade, current state testing data does not apply to its enrolled students. New Hampshire assesses students beginning in grade three, which this school does not teach. Historical assessment results from an earlier year, when the school's grade configuration appears to have included third grade, show proficiency rates in math and English language arts that were strong, with the large majority of tested students reaching proficiency in both subjects. Those results are dated, and the school no longer serves the tested grade, so they should be read as a historical signal rather than a current measure. No multi-year trend data was available. A parent looking for current academic indicators would need to follow students into the upper elementary grades at Lincoln Street School, where third through fifth graders are taught, to see how the cohort performs once state testing begins.
No data was available on discipline, course access, staffing ratios, attendance, or program offerings such as arts, world languages, or extracurriculars. We looked for the district's recent parent-relevant changes and found little meeting the bar for lasting impact, so we left that out rather than guess. The school's Title I status was also not reported. Parents considering Main Street School should ask the administration directly about class sizes, specialist teachers, counseling and nursing support, and how the transition to Lincoln Street School for third grade is structured.
What the available picture does convey is a primary school in a well-resourced, historic town with commuter access to Boston, a relatively affluent family population, and a community where public schools coexist with a globally known private institution. Families seeking an early-grade education in that environment, and who can manage the housing costs, will find Main Street School positioned to serve them within a broader SAU16 regional system that extends through Cooperative Middle School and Exeter High School.
See more original research from School Decision →