Orange School District

Orange School District is a small, high-performing elementary district in Connecticut, serving roughly 1,250 students across four schools: three schools serving grades 1–6 — Peck Place School, Race Brook School, and Turkey Hill School — plus Mary L. Tracy School, an early-childhood center for PK–K. The district ranks 25th out of 153 Connecticut districts, placing it in the 84th percentile with a 4-star rating. Students here perform far above state averages — 74.8% ELA proficiency versus 50.7% statewide — and chronic absenteeism is just 3.6%, compared to 16.4% across the state.

Turkey Hill School is the district's clear academic leader. It ranks 53rd of 491 elementary schools, has the strongest math proficiency at 75.2%, the best 6th-grade ELA score at 89.1%, and the lowest chronic absenteeism at 2.8%. Peck Place School ranks 69th and excels in English Language Arts with a 79.4% average, along with an exceptional 3rd-grade math score of 88.4%; it improved 53 spots in the state rankings this year. Race Brook School ranks 121st and trails the district in ELA at every grade level, though its math and science scores remain competitive and well above state levels. Mary L. Tracy School has no test scores due to its PK–K grade span, but it has the district's highest spending per student at $18,125 and the lowest free/reduced-lunch rate at 11.8%.

Several important patterns emerge from the data. Peck Place's math proficiency drops sharply from 88.4% in 3rd grade to 57.4% in 5th grade, pointing to an upper-elementary math challenge, while Race Brook's consistent ELA gaps across all grades suggest a school-wide instructional focus area. Large same-grade gaps exist between schools — Turkey Hill's 6th-grade ELA reaches 89.1% versus Race Brook's 68.7%. All three tested schools sit in the top quarter of Connecticut elementary schools, though small enrollments can make rankings swing from year to year. With low economic-need rates, favorable student-teacher ratios around 11 to 13, and per-student spending above $17,500, the district provides strong resources across all four schools.