Henry James Memorial School

Henry James Memorial School is a public middle school in Simsbury, CT, in the northwest Hartford suburbs, serving 685 students in grades 7–8 as part of the Simsbury School District, one of the top-rated districts in Connecticut. The school ranks 21st out of 258 Connecticut middle schools — putting it in the top 8% statewide with a 5-star rating — and it has never ranked below the top 12% of middle schools over the past decade. Proficiency rates run 23 to 29 percentage points above the state average in every subject, with 8th-grade math jumping from 61% to 71.2% and 7th-grade math from 59.2% to 70.6% in recent years.

Henry James outperforms nearly every comparable school in the area, including King Philip Middle School, Canton Middle School, Granby Memorial Middle School, Sage Park Middle School, and Carmen Arace Middle School. Its closest peer is Avon Middle School, which posts a slightly higher ELA score while Henry James holds a modest edge in 8th-grade math (71.2% vs. 70.1%) and science (76.2% vs. 72.6%). The school also delivers exceptional results across student groups: Hispanic students rank 4th statewide, low-income students rank 7th, and special education students rank 5th. Because Henry James is Simsbury's only 7–8 middle school, these results come from the full community rather than a select or magnet population.

The clearest area of opportunity is chronic absenteeism, which sits at 11.4% — well above the district's 7.9% and higher than Thompson Brook School (6.4%), East Granby Middle School (7.4%), and King Philip Middle School (9.6%). The district cut its own rate from 13.8% to 7.9% since 2021–2022, while the school only improved from 13.4% to 11.4%. Spending of about $18,273 per student is far below the $21,918–$24,039 spent at Bloomfield's Carmen Arace Middle School, yet Henry James produces far stronger outcomes — a sign of efficient resource use. With sustained high achievement, strong equity, and a clear path to improve attendance, Henry James remains one of the region's standout middle schools.