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Best Middle Schools in Lawrence, MA

At a glance

Schools

3,656

Students

Top rankedSpark Academy323^rd of 484 Massachusetts middle schools

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Biggest riser

Alexander B Bruce up 17 spots statewide this year

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Smallest classes

Guilmette Middle School 8.9 students per teacher

SchoolDigger ratings

2★

1★

0★

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Summary:

The city of Lawrence, Massachusetts is home to 8 middle schools serving grades 5-8. These schools face significant challenges, with most students performing below state averages on standardized tests. However, a few schools stand out, demonstrating that higher levels of student achievement are possible in this district.

Spark Academy is the top-performing middle school in Lawrence, with 26.47% of students proficient or better in English Language Arts and 28.26% in math, well above the district averages of 17.66% and 18.69% respectively. Frost Middle School also performs relatively well, with 25.11% proficient in ELA and 21.24% in math. While not the highest performers, Parthum Middle School students still outpace the district in both subjects.

The data reveals significant performance gaps between the highest and lowest-performing schools. For example, in 2024-2025, Spark Academy had a 20 percentage point lead over Leonard Middle School in ELA proficiency. Interestingly, there does not appear to be a strong correlation between per-student spending and academic performance across the district. The challenges facing Lawrence schools are systemic, likely related to the high poverty rates in the city, but the success of some schools indicates there is potential for improvement district-wide.

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Ranking:

E Elementary M Middle H High A Alternative P Private

Choose columns to see: Summary School Students/Teachers Ranking Test Scores Finance All

School													Students/Teachers											Ranking (2025)				Ranking (2024)				MCAS Next Generation English Language Arts (2025)							MCAS Next Generation Mathematics (2025)							MCAS Next Generation Science (2025)			MCAS Next Generation Civics (2025)	Per Pupil Expenditures (2024)
Name	Type	Grades	Address	City	Zip	County	District	Is Charter	Is Magnet	Is Virtual	Is Title I	Phone	Enrollment	Full-time Teachers	Student/ Teacher Ratio	Free/Discounted Lunch Recipients	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Average Standard Score (2025)	Statewide Rank (2025)	State Percentile (2025)	SchoolDigger Rating (2025)	Average Standard Score (2024)	Statewide Rank (2024)	State Percentile (2024)	Rank Change from Previous Year	MCAS Next Generation English Language Arts 3rd Grade	MCAS Next Generation English Language Arts 4th Grade	MCAS Next Generation English Language Arts 5th Grade	MCAS Next Generation English Language Arts 6th Grade	MCAS Next Generation English Language Arts 7th Grade	MCAS Next Generation English Language Arts 8th Grade	MCAS Next Generation English Language Arts All Grades	MCAS Next Generation Mathematics 3rd Grade	MCAS Next Generation Mathematics 4th Grade	MCAS Next Generation Mathematics 5th Grade	MCAS Next Generation Mathematics 6th Grade	MCAS Next Generation Mathematics 7th Grade	MCAS Next Generation Mathematics 8th Grade	MCAS Next Generation Mathematics All Grades	MCAS Next Generation Science 5th Grade	MCAS Next Generation Science 8th Grade	MCAS Next Generation Science All Grades	MCAS Next Generation Civics 8th Grade	Total
Alexander B Bruce	Public	3-8	135 Butler Street	Lawrence	01841	Essex County	Lawrence	No	No	No	Yes	(978) 975-5935	462	41	11.2		7 (1.5%)	12 (2.6%)	438 (94.8%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (0.9%)	16.1	415^th of 484 public middle schools	14.3%		14.6	432^nd of 493 public middle schools	12.4%	17	16.9	13.6	3.6	22.4	16.4	15.9	15.0	24.6	19.7	10.9	13.8	10.5	24.4	17.8	9.3	16.1	13.3	11.0	$24,293
Arlington Middle School	Public	5-8	150 Arlington Street	Lawrence	01841	Essex County	Lawrence	No	No	No	Yes	(978) 975-5930	543	45	12.2		9 (1.7%)	1 (0.2%)	524 (96.5%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.6%)	12.9	433^rd of 484 public middle schools	10.5%		13.8	441^st of 493 public middle schools	10.5%	8			9.4	10.4	10.3	11.8	10.6			17.7	11.1	13.8	23.6	16.3	28.2	15.1	20.4	10.3	$21,775
Parthum Middle School	Public	5-8	255 East Haverhill Street	Lawrence	01841	Essex County	Lawrence	No	No	No	Yes	(978) 691-7224	585	42	13.9		20 (3.4%)	11 (1.9%)	550 (94.0%)	2 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	26.2	348^th of 484 public middle schools	28.1%		29	333^rd of 493 public middle schools	32.5%	15			14.4	35.0	22.9	29.0	25.7			35.6	21.2	23.6	22.6	25.3	21.2	19.9	20.5	19.9	$19,854
Guilmette Middle School	Public	5-8	80 Bodwell St	Lawrence	01841	Essex County	Lawrence	No	No	No	Yes	(978) 722-8270	457	51	8.9		10 (2.2%)	10 (2.2%)	433 (94.7%)	4 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	21.9	380^th of 484 public middle schools	21.5%		19.7	392^nd of 493 public middle schools	20.5%	12			7.7	16.3	24.4	28.3	19.6			8.8	13.3	24.4	22.2	17.6	18.7	22.2	20.5	16.2	$25,006
Frost Middle School	Public	5-8	33 Hamlet Street	Lawrence	01843	Essex County	Lawrence	No	No	No	Yes	(978) 722-8810	508	35	14.5		26 (5.1%)	9 (1.8%)	454 (89.4%)	13 (2.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (0.8%)	21.5	382^nd of 484 public middle schools	21.1%		21.6	380^th of 493 public middle schools	22.9%	2			25.2	26.6	28.7	20.9	25.1			27.7	18.6	29.8	11.6	21.2	23.5	16.4	19.8	18.6	$21,272
Spark Academy	Public	6-8	165 Crawford Street	Lawrence	01843	Essex County	Lawrence	No	No	No	Yes	(978) 975-5993	443	47	9.4		12 (2.7%)	5 (1.1%)	418 (94.4%)	6 (1.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.5%)	30.2	323^rd of 484 public middle schools	33.3%		30.8	327^th of 493 public middle schools	33.7%	4				22.8	26.1	29.9	26.5				32.5	24.1	28.6	28.3		24.1	24.1	26.0	$23,572
Leonard Middle School	Public	6-8	60 Allen Street	Lawrence	01841	Essex County	Lawrence	No	No	No	Yes	(978) 722-8159	310	23	13.7		2 (0.6%)	4 (1.3%)	304 (98.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	7.2	472^nd of 484 public middle schools	2.5%		6.4	486^th of 493 public middle schools	1.4%	14				4.8	8.0	7.2	6.7				7.2	5.7	8.2	7.1		5.4	5.4	7.2	$22,177
Oliver Middle School	Public	6-8	233 Haverhill Street	Lawrence	01840	Essex County	Lawrence	No	No	No	Yes	(978) 722-8670	348	30	11.6		2 (0.6%)	4 (1.1%)	339 (97.4%)	2 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	11.6	442^nd of 484 public middle schools	8.7%		17.1	414^th of 493 public middle schools	16.0%	28				12.2	22.2	15.2	16.5				7.6	9.4	9.7	8.9		3.6	3.6	16.8	$23,654

Cities Near Lawrence

City	Distance	# of Schools	Statewide Rank
Methuen	1.47 mi	6	301^st
North Andover	1.75 mi	8	140^th
Andover	2.06 mi	11	52^nd
Haverhill	4.47 mi	16	304^th
Bradford	5.78 mi	2	276^th

See the top MA Massachusetts cities

SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau and the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS: Not all boundaries are included. We make every effort to ensure that boundaries are up-to-date. But it's important to note that these are approximations and are for general informational purposes only. To verify legal descriptions of boundaries or school locations, contact your local tax assessor's office and/or school district.