Best Public Schools in Naugatuck, CT

Schools in the city of Naugatuck, Connecticut include 8 public schools in the Naugatuck School District, serving 3,658 students in grades K-12 across 4 elementary schools (K-4), 3 middle/intermediate schools (5-8), and 1 high school (9-12), in a predominantly low-income community where 57.3% of students qualify for free/reduced-price lunch. The district ranks 125th out of 153 Connecticut districts, and its most consistent weakness is mathematics: at every grade level, math proficiency falls below state averages by 10 to 20 points, with 11th-grade SAT math at just 12.1% versus 31.1% statewide. Chronic absenteeism averages 18.1%, above the state's 16.4%.

Several schools stand out in the district. Hop Brook Elementary School is the strongest elementary performer (287th of 491 in the state), with 4th-grade ELA proficiency of 54.1%, above the state average. Maple Hill School has by far the lowest chronic absenteeism in the district at 6.1%, and it achieves near-state-average 4th-grade math (49.5%) despite spending the least per student ($14,562). Andrew Avenue School made the biggest one-year turnaround, jumping from the 20th to the 36th percentile in state rankings while serving the district's highest share of low-income students (71.95%). Among intermediate schools, Cross Street Intermediate School consistently outperforms Hillside Intermediate School in ELA and math, despite having a much higher student-teacher ratio (14.1 vs. 10.4), showing that class size alone does not explain results.

The greatest concern is Naugatuck High School, whose state ranking has declined to the 17th percentile, with SAT ELA of 38.8% and SAT math of just 12.1%, and a graduation rate of 87.0% versus 91.2% statewide. On the positive side, science is a relative strength — the high school improved to 42.0% proficiency and City Hill Middle School reached 43.8% in 8th-grade science, both closer to state averages than the reading and math gaps. City Hill also holds the highest rank among the district's secondary schools despite having the highest absenteeism (22.8%). Overall, the district shows meaningful differences between schools: some, like Maple Hill and Hop Brook, achieve strong outcomes with modest resources, while Andrew Avenue's rapid improvement suggests that positive change is possible district-wide.