High Schools in Gardner

Gardner, Massachusetts has two high schools serving grades 8–12 and 9–12 respectively — Gardner High and Gardner Academy for Learning and Technology — both part of the Gardner district, which is ranked 326th of 351 districts in the state (7th percentile, 0 stars). Together the two schools enroll 931 students, with Gardner High accounting for about 86.8% of that enrollment.

Gardner High is the larger school (808 students, grades 8–12) and the relatively stronger one on most measures. Its graduation rate is 93.1% and its dropout rate is 3.4%, both better than the district's 87.8% and 5.5%. Its student/teacher ratio of 13.4 is far lower than Gardner Academy's 24.7. Recent rankings place it around the 30th percentile with 2 stars, well above the district. Most test scores remain below state averages, but Biology All Grades in 2024–2025 reached 48.28% proficient, above both district (40.28%) and state (39.02%). Notably, 10th grade results are much stronger than 8th grade and all-grade results, so the school-wide averages understate 10th grade performance.

Gardner Academy is much smaller (123 students, grades 9–12) but faces steeper challenges. Its graduation rate of 72.3% is 20.8 percentage points below Gardner High's, and its dropout rate of 12.3% is about 3.6 times higher. Its only recent test results, 2024–2025 10th grade ELA and Mathematics, fall far below district and state benchmarks, and its older rankings were in the bottom 1st–5th percentile with 0 stars. Per-student spending is similar at both schools — $14,661 versus $14,319 in 2020–21 — so funding alone does not explain the differences. Data gaps and large year-to-year swings mean single-year results should be read with caution.