The top reported proficiency rate is 56% in English language arts. The lowest is 34% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Broad Street Elementary School
Broad Street Elementary School is a regular public school serving kindergarten through fifth grade in Nashua, New Hampshire's second-largest city. It sits within the Nashua School District and carries an enrollment that is modest for its grade band, with students spread fairly evenly across the six grades. The school's location on Broad Street places it in a city that has evolved from its textile-mill roots into a hub for defense contracting, high tech, and financial services, with major employers like BAE Systems, Dell, and Oracle maintaining a presence alongside two regional medical centers.
The student body reflects a blend that is common in Nashua. A majority of students identify as white, with a substantial Hispanic population and smaller groups identifying as Asian, Black, or two or more races. Just over a quarter of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which is a moderate share for the area. The data did not include counts or rates for students with individualized education programs or English learners, so a parent wanting to understand how the school serves those populations would need to ask directly.
On state assessments, Broad Street shows a pattern worth noticing: proficiency rises as students move up through the grades. In math, third graders sit below the midpoint, fourth graders climb somewhat, and fifth graders reach a level where a clear majority demonstrate proficiency. English language arts follows a steeper upward arc, with third-grade results starting lower, fourth grade landing near the middle, and fifth grade reaching a level where a strong majority are proficient. Science, assessed only in fifth grade, is the soft spot, with a smaller share of students reaching proficiency. A parent may want to look into how the school supports science instruction and whether the lower fifth-grade science result reflects a curricular gap or a single-year variation. Participation rates across all tested grades and subjects were high, which means the results give a reasonably complete picture of the school's performance rather than a skewed slice.
No multi-year trend data was available, so it is not possible to say whether these results represent improvement, decline, or stability over time. This is an elementary school, so there is no graduation rate to report, and the absence of that metric reflects the grade band rather than any gap in the school's offerings.
The housing market around Broad Street sits in a zone that is more affordable than the state benchmark but well above national levels. Typical home values in the school's zip code run below the broader Hillsborough County median listing price, which leans higher. Rents have been rising at a moderate pace. For families considering a move into the attendance area, the market is active and competitive, with homes generally moving within a few weeks of listing. The cost of ownership relative to local incomes is a real consideration, and renting remains the more affordable option compared with carrying a mortgage at current rates.
Nashua itself is a city in transition. The downtown core along Main Street has seen new housing added and a riverfront revitalization effort taking shape. The historic Millyard district, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, is being redeveloped with loft apartments and creative workspaces, connected to the broader city by the Broad Street Parkway, described publicly as the largest municipally managed public works project in New Hampshire. Mine Falls Park offers substantial green space near the city center. The South Nashua commercial district along Daniel Webster Highway, anchored by Pheasant Lane Mall, draws cross-border shoppers from Massachusetts taking advantage of New Hampshire's lack of sales tax.
Within the Nashua School District, two recent changes are relevant to families. A Title I preschool program has returned to the district, expanding early childhood access, and the district has centralized all student registration through a Welcome Center at Birch Hill Elementary School. Parents enrolling a child at Broad Street would go through that centralized process rather than registering at the school itself.
What Broad Street offers is a small neighborhood elementary where the academic signal strengthens as students progress, particularly in reading and writing, and where the fifth-grade results suggest the school is doing meaningful work in building skills over time. The science result is the area most worth questioning. The surrounding community is urban but not overwhelmingly large, with genuine reinvestment happening downtown and a housing market that, while not cheap, is relatively accessible for the region.
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