East Haddam School District

The East Haddam School District serves three schools in a rural Connecticut community: East Haddam Elementary School (PK–3, 340 students), Nathan Hale-Ray Middle School (4–8, 346 students), and Nathan Hale-Ray High School (9–12, 262 students). The district overall ranks 94th of 153 Connecticut districts — the 39th percentile with a 2-star rating, though that figure may understate current performance because the elementary school lacks a recent ranking.

Nathan Hale-Ray High School is the district’s standout for current rankings: it sits in the 67th percentile (44th of 133) and has improved steadily for three years. Its SAT scores beat the state — 62.3% ELA proficiency and 41.0% math proficiency — and its graduation rate is 94.3%. Math proficiency jumped 8.2 points year over year. Meanwhile, East Haddam Elementary School is a low-cost, high-attendance success story: chronic absenteeism is just 6.1%, 3rd-grade proficiency exceeds the state by double digits, and it historically ranked in the 98th percentile. Nathan Hale-Ray Middle School is the most mixed — 4th-grade ELA hits 78.3% proficiency, but 5th-grade scores collapse for the same cohort, with math dropping from 60.0% to 35.1% and ELA from 60.0% to 43.2% in one year.

Spending and class size rise with grade level: the high school spends $22,442 per student with a 7.9:1 ratio, while the elementary spends $17,563 with a 12.1:1 ratio — yet the elementary still posts strong scores. Chronic absenteeism is a district strength, with all schools below the state’s 16.4%; the middle school’s 11.4% is the highest in the district but still well below average. The high school’s improving SAT math and the middle school’s 5th-grade slump are the clearest positive and negative momentum signals. For parents, the elementary and high school are clear bright spots, while the middle school deserves a closer look at its 5th-grade curriculum and attendance patterns.