Cheshire School District

The Cheshire School District serves 4,077 students across six schools in Cheshire, Connecticut: four elementary schools (Highland School, Doolittle School, Norton School, and Chapman School), one middle school (Dodd Middle School), and one high school (Cheshire High School). The district is ranked 16th out of 153 Connecticut districts, placing it in the 90th percentile with a 5-star rating, and every school exceeds state proficiency averages in every reported subject and grade.

Dodd Middle School is the district's highest-ranked school, sitting at 13th out of 258 Connecticut middle schools (95th percentile, 5 stars) with exceptional 7th-grade ELA (83.1%) and math (75.9%) proficiency. Highland School, the largest elementary school at 899 students, ranks 47th out of 491 (90th percentile, 5 stars) with low chronic absenteeism of 4.8%. Chapman School is the district's math standout, posting 88.7% 3rd-grade math proficiency, though its ELA results are more uneven. Cheshire High School boasts a 97.1% graduation rate and 70.3% 11th-grade science proficiency, well above the state average of 50.5%. Norton School (66th) and Doolittle School (80th) are solid 4-star performers, though both trail the district's top schools.

The most notable concerns are chronic absenteeism and grade-level volatility. At Cheshire High School, the chronic absenteeism rate of 14.7% is nearly double the district average of 8.4% and about four times higher than at Norton School (3.3%). Doolittle School, which has the district's highest free/reduced-price lunch rate at 19.28%, struggles in 4th grade with 63.9% ELA proficiency. Several grade-level scores shifted dramatically between years, such as Norton School's 5th-grade math dropping from 78.7% to 61.3%. These are refinement opportunities rather than systemic problems in a district that consistently posts results far above state averages.