The top reported proficiency rate is 40% in English language arts. The lowest is 17% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Dr. George S. Emerson Elementary School
Dr. George S. Emerson Elementary School sits on Rhododendron Road in Fitzwilliam, a small rural town in the southwest corner of New Hampshire. The school serves pre-kindergarten through sixth grade and belongs to the Monadnock Regional School District, a cooperative district spanning Fitzwilliam, Gilsum, Richmond, Roxbury, Swanzey, and Troy. It is a small school by enrollment, with a few students per grade band, which shapes much of what follows.
Fitzwilliam is what residents and the town's own website call a quintessential New England village, organized around a town common ringed by twelve antique homes listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Publicly reported descriptions note antique shops, some mid-sized manufacturing, and a civic life concentrated around the common, the Third Fitzwilliam Meetinghouse, Town Hall, and the Fitzwilliam Inn. Walkability is limited to that compact village core. Outside it, the town spreads across country roads with no public transit. Residents drive to nearby Rindge for big-box retail and to Keene, the regional business center roughly fifteen miles north, for hospital care and larger employment. Rhododendron State Park, a National Natural Landmark, and the Cheshire-Recreational Rail Trail anchor the town's outdoor life. Growth has been slow and steady, and the lack of municipal sewer service constrains dense development.
On New Hampshire's state assessment, the NH SAS, Emerson's results vary considerably by grade and subject, and the very small number of tested students in each grade means a single child's performance moves the percentage meaningfully. In English language arts, proficiency rates across third through sixth grade sit in a band running from the mid-thirties to the low forties, with the upper grades at the higher end. In mathematics, the picture is weaker. Third grade shows a low rate of proficiency, fourth and fifth grades improve modestly, and sixth grade reaches the low forties. Fifth-grade science proficiency is low. Participation was full in most grades, dipping slightly in fifth. No multi-year trend data was available, so it is not possible to say whether these results represent a pattern or a single-year snapshot. Because the tested cohorts are so small, a parent may want to look into how the school interprets these results and what supports are in place, particularly in early-grade mathematics.
The student body is predominantly white, with small representation across Asian, Hispanic, Black, and multiracial students. About a quarter of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. Data on special education and English learner populations was not available, so those dimensions cannot be characterized here. No Title I status was reported. The school does not have charter or magnet designation.
Housing in Fitzwilliam's zip code sits below the New Hampshire state benchmark, with a typical home value in the low $400,000 range and a modest year-over-year increase. The estimated monthly mortgage on a typical home, assuming a 20% down payment, is roughly $1,900 at current rates. No rental data was available for the immediate area. Relative to the state's typical home value, Fitzwilliam is more affordable than many southern New Hampshire communities, though current mortgage rates stretch household budgets. The broader economic context shows a national unemployment rate holding steady in the low fours and median household income gradually rising.
The Monadnock Regional School District has adopted a three-year strategic plan running through 2027, centered on proficiency-based learning, social-emotional wellbeing, STEAM integration, facilities, and community engagement. The district has been implementing proficiency-based assessment, particularly at the high school level, where students demonstrate competency to earn credit. Voters approved a budget increase for the current fiscal year that adds to property tax rates across member towns. The district has also faced friction in teacher contract approvals, with one member town rejecting a contract others passed, creating some uncertainty around staff compensation under the cooperative agreement structure that requires all towns to approve.
Emerson Elementary is a small, locally rooted school in a quiet, rural New England town. It offers the closeness and community familiarity that come with small cohorts, and it feeds into a regional district navigating proficiency-based learning and budget pressures. The state assessment results are uneven, with ELA generally stronger than math, and the small testing populations make year-to-year comparisons hard to read. Families considering Emerson would do well to ask the school directly about math instruction in the early grades, how it supports students performing below proficiency, and how the district's proficiency-based framework translates into the elementary classroom.
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