Summary:
Manchester, Connecticut is served by 13 public schools enrolling roughly 7,149 students from pre-kindergarten through grade 12, with most schools belonging to the Manchester School District, which ranks 128th out of 153 Connecticut districts; the city also hosts schools from three other districts, including the Odyssey Community School District, the Connecticut Technical Education and Career System, and the Hartford School District. Overall, families will find wide variation in performance across the city, and a few schools stand out.
Odyssey Community School is the strongest all-around school: it has the lowest chronic absenteeism (9.1%), the lowest per-student spending ($13,531), and test scores above state averages in several grades. Highland Park School has risen from the 34th to the 57th percentile, with all four of its SBAC scores above state averages. On the other end, Buckley School has declined sharply, losing nearly 20 points in 4th grade proficiency in both ELA and math. Verplanck School is the city's biggest turnaround, jumping from 9.5% to 38.1% in 4th grade math, though it still trails state averages.
At the high school level, Howell Cheney Technical High School graduates 97.4% of students, yet only 6.7% of 11th graders are proficient in SAT math. Great Path Academy at CT State Manchester graduates 93.2% but has a 31.6% chronic absenteeism rate, the highest in the city. Manchester High School has the best SAT math proficiency at 21.3%, still well below the 31.3% state average. Citywide chronic absenteeism runs at 19.3%, and about 58.8% of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. The clearest priorities are improving high school math, reducing chronic absenteeism at Great Path and Verplanck, and watching whether Buckley's recent decline stabilizes.
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