Summary:
The Ansonia School District in Connecticut includes two elementary schools — Prendergast School and Mead School — serving grades PK–5 with nearly identical enrollments of roughly 580 students each.
The district ranks 149th out of 153 Connecticut districts, placing it among the lowest-performing in the state, and both schools carry 1-star ratings and sit in the bottom quarter of Connecticut elementary schools. Within this challenging context, Mead School is the stronger of the two. Mead ranked 388th out of 491 elementary schools for the 2025–2026 school year (21st percentile), while Prendergast School ranked 407th (17th percentile). Mead has climbed steadily upward over the past three years, while Prendergast slipped backward after a small improvement. Mead also posted the district's single strongest score: 41.6% proficiency in 4th-grade math, well above the district average of 32.2%. A slightly lower student–teacher ratio (15.2 versus 16.3) may be a contributing factor.
Prendergast has its own bright spots. Its chronic absenteeism rate is 13.5% — below Mead's 15.2%, below the district's 18.2%, and below the state average of 16.4%. Prendergast also shows consistent ELA growth from 3rd to 5th grade in both reported years. However, both schools trail state proficiency averages by roughly 19–24 percentage points in ELA and math, and both saw math proficiency decline by about 3 points year over year. With high poverty rates (roughly 65% free/reduced lunch) and sparse science data showing a 22.5-point gap from the state average, the overriding picture is systemic underperformance. The bright spots are real but narrow, and significant improvement will be needed for either school to approach state benchmarks.
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