Summary:
Lawrence serves roughly 13,300 students across 26 public schools — 14 elementary, 8 middle, 3 high schools, and 1 alternative setting — in a district ranked 337 of 351 statewide, at the 4th percentile with 0 district stars, meaning nearly every tested subject trails Massachusetts averages by a wide margin.
Within that picture, several schools stand out relative to their Lawrence peers. Spark Academy is the only school here with 2 stars, ranking at the 30th percentile among middle schools with balanced ELA (23.95%), Math (24.38%), Science (24.72%), and Civics (22.48%) results. Frost Middle School posts the strongest all-grade science in the data at 32.16% and ranks at the 27th percentile. Emily G Wetherbee has the best elementary rank (634 of 899, 29th percentile) and 3rd grade ELA of 46.67% and Math of 48.89%, both above state, though its later grades are much lower. John K Tarbox leads all-grade math at 31.71%, and Parthum Middle School and South Lawrence East Elementary School are also comparatively strong.
The biggest district-wide gaps are in 10th grade ELA (14.62% vs. 45.48% state), 10th grade Math (12.23% vs. 43.73%), and Biology, reported at 0%. Physics is the clear exception: Lawrence High School reaches 54.81% proficiency, above the state's 46.58%, and its 86.7% graduation rate and 9.0% dropout rate beat the district. Some schools sit at the bottom of their rank pools, including Arlington Elementary (895 of 899) and Francis M Leahy Middle (461 of 478), where all-grade results are below 7%. Spending and class size do not track neatly with outcomes. Families should weigh each school's grade-level results rather than district averages alone.
Thank you for your feedback!