Best Public Schools in Zip Code 06902

Zip code 06902 in Stamford, Connecticut, is home to 11 schools serving about 9,571 students from pre-K through 12th grade: eight elementary or K-8 schools, one standalone middle school, and two large high schools. Ten schools belong to the Stamford School District, which ranks 129th out of 153 Connecticut districts, while Stamford Charter School for Excellence operates under the Stamford Charter School for Excellence District, which ranks a much stronger 61st out of 153. The two high schools—Westhill High School and Stamford High School—enroll about 45% of the zip code's students.

The standout school is Stamford Charter School for Excellence, ranked 146th out of 491 elementary schools statewide, with proficiency rates far above every other school in the area—78.9% in 3rd grade ELA and 88.7% in 4th grade math—despite spending the least per student ($11,189) and having the largest classes. Among district-run schools, Strawberry Hill, an extension of Rogers International, is the strongest, ranking in the 49th percentile with the lowest free/reduced lunch rate (45.56%) and absenteeism of just 7.1%. At the other end, K.T. Murphy School ranks 422nd with a 70% free/reduced lunch rate. The high schools are the weakest area: Westhill High School and Stamford High School rank in the bottom half of Connecticut high schools, with chronic absenteeism above 28%, graduation rates of 81.5–85.5%, and math proficiency around 21–24% versus the state's 31.3%.

Attendance tracks closely with performance: the three top-ranked schools—Stamford Charter School for Excellence (6.2%), Strawberry Hill (7.1%), and Rogers International (9.2%)—have the lowest chronic absenteeism, while the high schools top 28%. The standalone middle school, Cloonan School, underperforms the K-8 schools despite the smallest class sizes, with 6th grade ELA proficiency of 18.3% versus 67.4% at Strawberry Hill. Stamford Charter School for Excellence's success with a 55.6% free/reduced lunch rate shows that high-poverty students can achieve strong results. Trends are mixed: Westhill High School improved from the 29th to 38th percentile, while Stamford High School declined from 45th to 37th and Strawberry Hill dropped from 60th to 49th.