The top reported proficiency rate is 70% in Science. The lowest is 43% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Belmont Elementary School
Belmont Elementary School serves children from pre-kindergarten through fourth grade in the town of Belmont, New Hampshire, as part of the Shaker Regional School District. The school sits in a community that blends residential neighborhoods with commercial and retail uses, carrying a former mill-town heritage into its present identity. Belmont's village center, where the restored Belmont Mill now functions as a community center, clusters civic life around the intersection of two state routes. The town spreads across a sizable land area, and most of it is car-dependent, with the nearest interstate access a short drive away. Its Lakes Region location near Lake Winnisquam means the population swells seasonally with summer and winter visitors, giving the town a different rhythm at different times of year.
The school's enrollment is modest for its grade band, with a fairly even distribution across grades and a pre-kindergarten program that adds an early entry point. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting a working-community profile rather than an affluent one. The student body is overwhelmingly white, with small representations from Hispanic, multiracial, and a few other backgrounds. Data on individualized education plans and English learner status was not available, so those population details remain unknown.
On the most recent New Hampshire state assessments, English language arts stands as a relative strength. Fourth-grade ELA proficiency was solidly above the midpoint, and third-grade ELA was also respectable, with full or near-full participation across both grades. Reading and writing appear to be where this school's students perform best relative to state expectations. Mathematics results tell a different story. Proficiency in both third and fourth grade landed below the middle of the range a parent would hope to see, with participation rates comparable to ELA. A parent may want to look into this further with the school, asking how math instruction is structured and what supports are in place for students who are not yet meeting proficiency benchmarks. Science results appeared in the data, but they come from an older assessment administered under a different testing system and are not comparable to current results, so they offer little usable signal about present performance.
No multi-year trend data was available, which means there is no clear picture of whether proficiency is improving, declining, or holding steady over time. This limits the ability to say whether the math soft spot is a persistent pattern or a single-year snapshot. The school's staffing, attendance, discipline, and course-access information was also not provided, leaving gaps in understanding the student experience beyond test results. No program offerings data was available, so it is unclear what enrichment, intervention, or specialized programming the school provides.
Belmont's housing market sits below the New Hampshire state benchmark but above the national one, making it more affordable than many parts of the state for a family buying a home, though still requiring a price-to-income ratio that stretches typical budgets. Rental data was not available for the area. The town experienced rapid growth in the 1980s and 1990s, with that pace slowing considerably since. It maintains a zoning ordinance, a master plan, and a capital improvement plan, suggesting a community that has thought about managing future development, though no specific major housing projects surfaced in publicly reported information.
Healthcare is a key employment sector in Belmont, with several medical facilities in and around the village and the Belknap Mall area. Retail and town government round out the local employer base. The former textile mill that once anchored the town's economy closed long ago, and no large industrial employers were identified. The town has parks, a beach and recreation area, a town forest, and a public library listed on the National Register of Historic Places. A regional transit system and a commuter rideshare facility provide limited public transportation options.
For a family considering Belmont Elementary, the picture is one of a small-town public school in a community with a working-class core and seasonal recreational character. The school's ELA results are encouraging, its math results warrant attention and follow-up, and several important data points that would round out the picture were not available. What the school offers beyond the test scores, in terms of programs, staffing, and student support, would be worth asking about directly.
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