Best Elementary Schools in Zip Code 06437

Zip code 06437 is home to four elementary schools—Guilford Lakes School, Melissa Jones School, A. W. Cox School, and Calvin Leete School—serving approximately 1,102 students across PK/K–4 grade bands. All four belong to the Guilford School District, which ranks in the 65th percentile of Connecticut districts with a 3-star rating. This is a high-performing, low-poverty cluster: free/reduced lunch rates range narrowly from 13.3% to 14.9%, and every school scores far above state averages on nearly every reported SBAC test.

Calvin Leete School is the clear academic pacesetter, with the highest average test scores (82.4% proficient) and a stellar historical rank of 14th out of 497 Connecticut elementary schools (97th percentile, 5 stars) in 2023–2024. A. W. Cox School is the most consistent performer, holding a 4-star ranking for three straight years, and posted the strongest current 4th-grade ELA score at 77.8% proficient. Guilford Lakes School is the largest school (369 students), ranks solidly at 135th statewide, and is the only school where math proficiency (70.1%) exceeds ELA (67.7%). The key concern is Melissa Jones School, whose rank has dropped sharply from 93rd to 213th in just two years, and whose 2025–2026 3rd-grade math score (44.6%) is the only result in the data set below the Connecticut state average.

All four schools keep chronic absenteeism remarkably low—between 3.3% and 8.4% versus the 16.4% state average—yet attendance does not separate the schools, since the lowest-absenteeism school (Melissa Jones) has the weakest trend. Small grade cohorts mean year-to-year proficiency swings can be large, so shifts like a 24-point drop in one school’s 4th-grade math should be interpreted cautiously. Spending and student–teacher ratios also do not clearly predict outcomes: Calvin Leete spends the most and scores highest, but A. W. Cox has the lowest student–teacher ratio (10.2) without an equivalent academic edge. For parents, the bottom line is that this zip code offers consistently strong elementary options, with Calvin Leete leading academically, A. W. Cox providing stability, Guilford Lakes remaining solid, and Melissa Jones deserving close monitoring.