Roger Ludlowe Middle School

Roger Ludlowe Middle School, located in Fairfield, CT, is a public middle school serving grades 6 through 8 with 764 students. For the 2025–2026 school year, it ranked 11th out of 258 Connecticut middle schools, placing it in the 96th percentile with a 5-star rating. This is no one-year fluke: Ludlowe has earned 5 stars in every ranked year since 2015–2016, with statewide rankings ranging from 7th to 19th. The school serves a relatively advantaged population — about 8.4% of students qualify for free/reduced lunch — and maintains a low chronic absenteeism rate of 6.4% and a favorable student–teacher ratio of 10.1.

Academically, Ludlowe far exceeds both district and state benchmarks on the 2025–2026 SBAC assessments. ELA proficiency ranges from 73.6% to 80.2% across grades, while math proficiency is even stronger at 79.3% to 84.1% — an unusual pattern, given that math scores statewide typically trail reading. Within the Fairfield School District, Ludlowe is the clear leader, outperforming Fairfield Woods Middle School and Tomlinson Middle School by significant margins. For instance, 8th grade math proficiency is 80.6% at Ludlowe, compared to 64.1% at Fairfield Woods and 54.0% at Tomlinson — a dramatic gap between schools less than half a mile apart.

What truly sets Ludlowe apart is its effectiveness across student subgroups. Low-income students at Ludlowe rank 2nd out of 111 schools statewide, and special education students ranked 1st out of 36 schools in 2021–2022. Ludlowe also holds its own against Connecticut's most affluent middle schools — Coleytown Middle School, Weston Middle School, and Bedford Middle School — all ranked in the top 10, despite serving a more economically diverse student body and spending less per pupil than those districts. With chronic absenteeism well below the state average of 16.4% and a decade of top-20 rankings, Ludlowe is a benchmark school in the region.