Middle Schools in Manchester School District

The Manchester School District in Connecticut has two middle schools — Elisabeth M. Bennet Academy serving grades 5–8 and Illing Middle School serving grades 7–8 — with a combined enrollment of 1,627 students. The district ranks 128th out of 153 Connecticut districts with a 1-star rating, and both schools face substantial challenges: about 60 percent of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, and chronic absenteeism runs between 19 and 21 percent, above the state rate of 16.4 percent. Academic proficiency trails Connecticut state averages by wide margins in nearly every subject and grade, though both schools generally perform at or slightly above district averages.

Elisabeth M. Bennet Academy is the higher-performing school overall, with average proficiency of 35.2 percent for 2025–2026, compared to Illing Middle School's 31.5 percent. Bennet's strongest results are in 5th grade science (40.4 percent) and 6th grade ELA (38.0 percent) and math (37.3 percent), but its overall performance has been flat to slightly declining. Illing, by contrast, is improving: it gained in every reported subject and grade, with increases of 2.4 to 5.1 percentage points. Illing also has slightly better attendance (19.1 vs. 20.7 percent chronic absenteeism) and a lower poverty rate (58.45 vs. 64.47 percent free/reduced lunch), while spending more per student ($18,221 vs. $17,772) and maintaining a better student-teacher ratio (9.7 vs. 11.0).

Math is the clearest area of concern at both schools: only 21.6 percent of Illing 8th graders are proficient in math versus 41.9 percent statewide, and even Bennet's best math result (6th grade, 37.3 percent) falls below the state average of 44.4 percent. Science is a relative strength, with both schools closer to the state benchmark in science than in math or ELA. Illing's ranking history places it in the bottom third of Connecticut middle schools, though its latest 2-star rating reflects its upward trend. Parents should note that no direct same-grade comparison is possible — Bennet reports grades 5 and 6, while Illing reports grades 7 and 8 — so differences reflect grade-level expectations and cohort effects as much as school effectiveness.