Summary:
Westport School District in Connecticut serves two highly ranked middle schools—Bedford Middle School and Coleytown Middle School—for grades 6-8, in an affluent area with exceptionally low poverty and strong academic performance. Both schools are among the top in the state, with Coleytown ranked 5th and Bedford ranked 9th out of 258 Connecticut middle schools for 2025-2026. The district itself is ranked 10th out of 153 districts, with a 5-star rating.
Coleytown is the clear academic leader in the district, scoring higher than Bedford in every tested subject for 2025-2026, including an overall core average of 82.9% versus Bedford’s 78.7%. Coleytown’s biggest edge is in 8th-grade science, where 84.4% of students are proficient compared to 76.1% at Bedford. Coleytown also has lower chronic absenteeism (5.9% vs. 8.0%) and higher per-student spending ($27,339 vs. $21,915). Bedford is still an elite school by state standards, ranking in the top 10 and improving from 17th place two years ago. Both schools far exceed Connecticut state averages—for example, 8th-grade math proficiency is roughly 77-80% in Westport versus 41.9% statewide.
A common pattern emerges across both schools: 6th-grade proficiency dips while 7th grade is the strongest, and year-over-year swings in 6th-grade scores suggest differences in entering cohorts rather than systemic decline. For instance, Bedford’s 6th-grade ELA dropped from 87.3% to 75.4%, while 7th grade improved strongly at both schools. Chronic absenteeism is very low compared to the state rate of 16.4%, and poverty levels are minimal, with only 2-3.5% of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. For parents, both schools offer outstanding academics, but Coleytown stands out as the district’s top performer with a longer track record of top-5 statewide rankings.
Thank you for your feedback!