Middle Schools in Swampscott

Swampscott has just one middle school: Swampscott Middle, which serves grades 5 through 8 and enrolls 654 students as part of the Swampscott district. Because it is the only middle school in the area, families comparing options here are really comparing this school against the district, the state, and its own past performance. It has a student-teacher ratio of 10.8 and per-student spending of $17,795 (from 2020–2021, so it may not reflect current resources). The free/reduced lunch percentage is not available in this data, so that context cannot be assessed.

Academically, the school is performing above the Massachusetts average in every all-grade subject reported for 2025–2026. Its standout result is 8th grade Civics at 68.03% proficient, compared with 39.77% statewide — a gap of about 28 percentage points. Science is also a clear strength: all-grade Science is 55.48% versus 40.98% for the state, and both 5th grade Science (58.74% vs 43.07%) and 8th grade Science (52.35% vs 38.93%) are well above state. Math is solid across every grade, led by 8th grade at 50.68% (about 9 points above state). ELA is more mixed: grades 5, 6, and 8 beat the state, with 8th grade ELA at 57.82% (about 16 points above state), but 7th grade ELA is the one weak spot at 36.08% versus the state's 39.91% — a localized grade-level dip rather than a school-wide ELA issue.

The school improved year over year in every all-grade subject: ELA rose 3.10 points, Math 0.81, Science 6.54, and Civics 4.39. Its state ranking went from 111 of 493 in 2023–2024, down to 163 of 484 in 2024–2025, then back up to 125 of 478 in 2025–2026 — a return to 4 stars, though not yet back to its 2023–2024 position. The school also tracks its district closely, within about 0.6 points in ELA, Math, Science, and Civics.