Elementary Schools in Dover

Dover, MA is served by a single elementary school — Chickering — which enrolls 492 students in grades PK–5 at 29 Cross Street, Dover, MA 02030, and is part of the Dover district. Because there is only one elementary school in town, there are no local school-to-school comparisons; the meaningful benchmark is how Chickering compares with the state of Massachusetts as a whole.

Chickering is a top-performing school by every measure in this data set. It ranks 47th out of 899 Massachusetts elementary schools in 2025-2026, placing it in the 95th percentile with 5 stars, and it has improved steadily over three years (56th → 50th → 47th). The Dover district ranks 15th out of 351 districts statewide, in the 96th percentile. In 2025-2026, proficiency rates were 68.91% in ELA, 77.82% in mathematics, and 75% in science — all far above state averages of 40.03%, 41.11%, and 40.98%. Mathematics is the standout subject, and 5th-grade math (92.65% proficient, versus 39.5% statewide) is the only reported score above 90%. The lowest reported score is 3rd-grade ELA at 60.49%, still well ahead of the state.

Year over year, all-grade math rose from 71.92% to 77.82% while ELA held essentially flat at about 68.9% and science dipped slightly from 77.78% to 75%. The school reports an 11:1 student-teacher ratio for 2024-2025 and $20,711 per-student spending for 2020-2021, though the spending figure predates the outcome data and should not be read as a cause. Free/reduced lunch data for 2024-2025 is not reported in this extract, so the socioeconomic context cannot be assessed from this data. District elementary results in this file mirror the school's results, meaning Dover elementary performance is essentially Chickering's performance.