The top reported proficiency rate is 60% in English language arts. The lowest is 55% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Pelham Elementary School
Pelham Elementary School sits on Marsh Road in Pelham, New Hampshire, a bedroom community wedged between Nashua and Salem along the Massachusetts border. The town grew from farming roots into a residential community after World War II, and publicly reported town materials describe growth that "has yet to slow down." Pelham retains a recognizable civic center with a Congregational church, a town green hosting summer Concerts on the Green, and the Butler Monument honoring its first settler. The town is car-dependent, with no rail or airport within its limits, though commuter rail is reachable a short drive south in Lowell. Bridge Street along NH 38 serves as the commercial strip, and the rest of Pelham is largely residential with protected trails and bodies of water. The Pelham School District, SAU 28, covers the town, with Pelham Elementary feeding into Pelham Memorial School and then Pelham High School.
The school serves prekindergarten through fifth grade and enrolls a sizable student body for its grade band. The student population is predominantly white, with smaller Hispanic, Asian, and multiracial groups. A small fraction of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which places Pelham among the lower-poverty schools in the state. Data on individualized education programs and English-learner status was not reported, so those populations cannot be characterized here. Because Pelham Elementary is an early-grade school, it has no graduation rate, no AP or career-pathway data, and no high-school-level course access to describe.
On the most recent New Hampshire state assessments, Pelham Elementary posted solid results across the tested grades. In third-grade math, a majority of students reached proficiency. Fourth-grade math dipped, with roughly half proficient, before climbing again in fifth grade. English language arts followed a similar arc: third grade landed above half proficient, fourth grade dipped below half, and fifth grade showed a strong majority proficient. Fifth-grade science landed at midrange proficiency. Participation was consistently high across all grades and subjects. The fourth-grade dip in both math and reading is the soft spot in the profile. A parent may want to look into this further with the school, whether it reflects a cohort effect or something about instruction in that transition year.
The housing market surrounding Pelham Elementary reflects the town's residential character. Typical home values in the school's zip code sit well above the national benchmark and somewhat above the New Hampshire state benchmark, indicating a relatively expensive market for the region. The broader Hillsborough County market shows active and pending listing counts that have risen year over year, with median listing prices easing slightly compared with the prior year. Median days on market have stayed low, suggesting homes still move reasonably quickly. The price-to-income ratio is elevated, which means buying a home here requires a relatively strong income. Renter data was not available for the zip code, so the rental picture cannot be described. Mortgage rates used for affordability calculations remain in the mid-six-percent range, and the estimated monthly mortgage cost for a typical home is substantial.
No trend data was available to compare this year's results against prior years, so it is not possible to say whether these proficiency levels represent improvement, decline, or stability. The comparison fact-set positioning this school against its county peers was not provided, so Pelham Elementary cannot be placed against neighboring districts here. Discipline, staffing, and attendance data were also not available, and no program offerings were listed beyond the regular elementary curriculum.
What the picture does show is a relatively affluent, growing bedroom-community elementary school with consistent assessment participation and generally above-midrange proficiency in the early grades, alongside a dip in fourth grade that warrants a closer look. Families considering Pelham are looking at a car-dependent suburban town with a traditional civic identity, strong housing values, and a school that performs competently on state measures for most of its grade levels.
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