High Schools in Needham

Needham has exactly one high school: Needham High, located at 609 Webster Street, serving grades 9–12 with 1,633 students. It belongs to the Needham district, which ranks 20th of 351 Massachusetts districts — the 94th percentile — with a 5-star rating. Because the town has a single high school, the district's high-school picture closely mirrors Needham High itself, and there are no in-town school-to-school comparisons to make.

Needham High is a top-tier school statewide. In 2025–2026 it ranked 11th of 353 Massachusetts high schools, placing it in the 97th percentile with a 5-star rating, up from 21st of 349 (94th percentile) in 2024–2025 and 17th of 348 (95th percentile) in 2023–2024. Its MCAS Next Generation proficiency rates are far above the state in every reported subject for 2025–2026: 10th-grade English Language Arts at 87.89% versus the state's 45.48%, 10th-grade Mathematics at 90.78% versus 43.73%, 10th-grade Science at 72.10% versus 40.50%, and Biology End of Course at 74.03% versus 37.68%. Mathematics is the strongest subject and the biggest improver, rising 6.12 percentage points from 84.66% the prior year while the state rate dipped slightly. ELA also gained 1.44 points while the state fell 5.18 points. Science sits below the school's own ELA and math results but remains far above the state average.

Outcomes are strong: a 99.0% graduation rate and a 0.5% dropout rate in 2024–2025, compared with 97.9% and 0.5% for the district. The student-teacher ratio was 11.8:1 in 2024–2025, suggesting a well-staffed school, and per-student spending was $18,921 in 2020–2021, an older figure that cannot be compared directly to current spending. The free/reduced lunch percentage is blank, so socioeconomic context is unknown rather than zero. Two cautions: the 2024–2025 Biology figure covers All Grades while the 2025–2026 figure is End of Course, so cross-year Biology comparisons should be read carefully.