Summary:
Suffield School District in Connecticut is served by two elementary schools — McAlister Intermediate School (grades 3–5) and A. Ward Spaulding School (pre-K–2) — together educating about 927 students in a modestly above-average district ranked 71st out of 153 in the state.
McAlister Intermediate is the district’s academic anchor because it is the only elementary school with standardized test data. In both 2024–25 and 2025–26, McAlister scored above the Connecticut state average in nearly every subject and grade, with its strongest performance in 4th grade math (74.1% proficient in 2024–25, and 64.1% in 2025–26 — still more than 10 points above the state). However, the most recent year showed widespread declines: 3rd grade ELA dropped 14.4 points, 3rd grade math fell 10.6 points, and the school’s state rank slipped from the 69th percentile to the 57th. A. Ward Spaulding stands out for its excellent attendance — a chronic absenteeism rate of just 5.6%, less than one-third of the state’s 16.4% — and it also has a slightly lower student–teacher ratio (13.7 vs. 14.7) and higher per-student spending ($16,415 vs. $15,741), reflecting the extra resources typical of early-grade buildings. Because Spaulding ends at 2nd grade, no direct test-score comparison between the two schools is possible.
Both schools serve a similar, relatively low-poverty population (about 13% free/reduced lunch eligibility). Attendance is a district-wide strength, with both schools well below the district’s 10.3% and the state’s 16.4% chronic absenteeism rates. The main concern is McAlister’s recent proficiency drop, especially in 3rd grade ELA, which fell below the state average. If that trend reverses, Suffield should remain a solidly above-average district, but families should watch next year’s results to see if the decline continues or stabilizes.
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