Best Public Schools in Waterford, CT

Waterford, Connecticut is served by 5 schools—3 elementary, 1 middle, and 1 high school—that together educate about 2,303 students, with most schools belonging to the Waterford School District and one early-childhood school in the Learn district.

For parents, the standout is Waterford High School, which ranks in the top 28% of Connecticut high schools and posts strong SAT scores, graduation rates, and science proficiency — though chronic absenteeism of 17.1% is higher than the district average. Clark Lane Middle School is the most improved, jumping from the 62nd to 77th percentile in one year, with 8th-grade math proficiency rising to 62.8% and chronic absenteeism just 9.6%. Among elementary schools, Oswegatchie Elementary School shines in early grades, especially 4th-grade math at 80% proficiency, but its state rank swings widely and 5th-grade scores drop. Great Neck Elementary School shows the opposite pattern: weak 4th-grade scores (40.6% ELA proficiency) but strong 5th-grade results, and its ranking has declined three years in a row.

Separately, The Friendship School stands out as a PK–K program with much higher poverty (66.7% free/reduced lunch), higher chronic absenteeism (36.5%), a larger student-teacher ratio (17.6), and the lowest per-student spending. Excluding that school, Waterford district schools have a poverty rate around 31.6% and chronic absenteeism around 10.1%. Overall, families will find a district that outperforms the state in most subjects, with particularly strong math gains at Clark Lane and Oswegatchie. The main concerns are Great Neck’s falling performance, high school attendance issues, and the concentrated needs at The Friendship School, which is not part of the Waterford School District and requires separate attention.