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Mather Elementary School

Public Grades PK, KG-6
676th
SchoolDigger Rank ?
of 899 Massachusetts Elementary Schools
Better than 25% of Massachusetts elementary schools
Summary

Mather Elementary School is a PK–6 school at 24 Parish Street in Dorchester (02122), part of Boston Public Schools, enrolling 473 students — one of the larger elementary populations in its immediate neighborhood. Statewide, Mather ranked 676th of 899 Massachusetts elementary schools in 2025-26 (25th percentile, 1 star), which places it modestly above its own district's 15th-percentile position but still in the bottom quarter of the state. The ten-year trend is slow, uneven improvement: the school sat at the 12th percentile in 2017-18 and 2020-21, peaked at the 33rd percentile (2 stars) in 2023-24, and has since settled in the low-to-mid 20s. Student-teacher ratio was 10.8 in 2024-25, and per-student spending rose from $22,954 (2018-19) to $26,366 (2020-21).

On 2025-26 MCAS, Mather's proficiency was 26.7% in ELA, 26.7% in math, and 32.7% in science. That trails the state by roughly 13 points in ELA and 14 in math, and about 8 in science, but it is roughly level with the Boston district in ELA and math — and clearly ahead in science (+7.8 points). Among nine nearby schools, Mather ranks 3rd in ELA, 4th in math, and 1st in science, separated from a bottom cluster that includes Clap Elementary School (5th percentile), Winthrop Elementary School (7th), Russell Elementary School (10th), and King Elementary School (1st percentile). Science is the school's signature: it has gained nearly 15 points over three years (17.9 to 32.7), while ELA and math have drifted sideways since the 2023-24 spike. Everett Elementary School (33rd percentile) and Conservatory Lab Charter School (30th) rank higher overall.

The school's effectiveness is unusually split by student group. English Language Learners rank in the 85th–93rd percentile statewide across three consecutive years (44th of 291 schools in 2025-26) — an unusual result for a school in the 25th percentile overall. Special education students, by contrast, rank at the 3rd percentile (0 stars) with a three-year decline. Female students have ranked 14th–19th percentile while male students ranked 32nd–47th. Grade 5 math is the clearest weak point at 16.4%, about 10.6 points below the district, even though that same grade scored above the district in science. Grade 3 ELA (32.8%) is the one grade-level result above the district. Note that free/reduced-lunch data is blank for Mather and nearby schools, so relative poverty context cannot be compared.

473
Students ?
10.8
Student/teacher ratio ?
$35,435
Per pupil spending ?
73.6%
Free/discounted lunch ?
 24 Parish Street
       Dorchester, MA  02122

(617) 635-8757

District: Boston

Racial breakdown:

African American:
35.5%
Asian:
33.0%
Hispanic:
19.7%
more
 See top rated Massachusetts elementary schools

 Compare Mather Elementary School to nearby elementary schools!
At a glance
▬ Ranking trend: Holding steady — 23rd percentile in 2016 → 25th in 2026
Strengths
✓Small classes — about 11 students per teacher
Worth a look
!Test scores below the Massachusetts average (27% vs 41% meeting standards)
!In the lower quartile statewide (25th percentile)
!Some student groups rank well below the school's overall statewide standing
Students meeting standards (2025-2026) ?
This school27%
District avg29%
Massachusetts avg41%
676th of 899
Massachusetts public elementary schools ?
Bottom 25%▲ up 2 pts since 2016
See the entire ranking list of Massachusetts Elementary Schools →
★★★★★
SchoolDigger rating ?
33rd of 63Elementary Schools in the Boston
299th of 351Boston among Massachusetts districts
Statewide rank percentile over time (100 = the top-ranked school in the state; click a legend item to add a student group)
Show full rank history (all student groups)

All Students

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankMassachusetts percentileRating
202625.0676 of 89924.8%★☆☆☆☆
202522.0706 of 90622.1%★☆☆☆☆
202432.9613 of 91633.1%★★☆☆☆
202325.1690 of 92825.6%★☆☆☆☆
202219.6759 of 93218.6%★☆☆☆☆
202113.1823 of 93612.1%★☆☆☆☆
201925.9738 of 94221.7%★☆☆☆☆
201815.4826 of 93411.6%★☆☆☆☆
201718.7798 of 93814.9%★☆☆☆☆
201627.4720 of 93222.7%★☆☆☆☆
201523.7737 of 91419.4%★☆☆☆☆
201415.0817 of 92611.8%★☆☆☆☆
201311.7841 of 9289.4%☆☆☆☆☆
201213.5823 of 93011.5%★☆☆☆☆
201115.3800 of 92413.4%★☆☆☆☆
201012.7827 of 92010.1%★☆☆☆☆
200910.8832 of 9098.5%☆☆☆☆☆
20089.0847 of 9086.7%☆☆☆☆☆
20077.0854 of 9116.3%☆☆☆☆☆
200618.4771 of 91115.4%★☆☆☆☆
20058.9823 of 8877.2%☆☆☆☆☆
20046.0845 of 8824.2%☆☆☆☆☆
20038.6812 of 8848.1%☆☆☆☆☆

African American

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankMassachusetts percentileRating
202636.0124 of 18834.0%★★☆☆☆
202524.8148 of 16912.4%★☆☆☆☆
202440.2104 of 16737.7%★★☆☆☆
202328.9126 of 16724.6%★☆☆☆☆
202225.0145 of 17316.2%★☆☆☆☆
202139.793 of 16644.0%★★☆☆☆
201949.979 of 17254.1%★★★☆☆
201833.5129 of 17425.9%★☆☆☆☆

Asian

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankMassachusetts percentileRating
202614.9134 of 14910.1%★☆☆☆☆
202516.1123 of 14213.4%★☆☆☆☆
202425.0125 of 15217.8%★☆☆☆☆
202322.6126 of 14513.1%★☆☆☆☆
202217.1126 of 14311.9%★☆☆☆☆
20216.5134 of 1415.0%☆☆☆☆☆
201918.0133 of 15514.2%★☆☆☆☆
20189.3147 of 1544.5%☆☆☆☆☆

Disabled

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankMassachusetts percentileRating
202218.1624 of 6727.1%☆☆☆☆☆
202125.1499 of 63221.0%★☆☆☆☆
201922.2569 of 66514.4%★☆☆☆☆
201825.1531 of 65619.1%★☆☆☆☆

English Language Learner

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankMassachusetts percentileRating
202667.044 of 29184.9%★★★★☆
202564.440 of 28185.8%★★★★☆
202475.521 of 28292.6%★★★★★
202378.415 of 26494.3%★★★★★
202267.633 of 26787.6%★★★★☆
202154.254 of 24077.5%★★★★☆
201979.128 of 25889.1%★★★★☆
201861.652 of 24478.7%★★★★☆

Female

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankMassachusetts percentileRating
202620.9709 of 86918.4%★☆☆☆☆
202517.5747 of 86914.0%★☆☆☆☆
202421.8714 of 88619.4%★☆☆☆☆
202318.5743 of 88716.2%★☆☆☆☆
202217.1766 of 90115.0%★☆☆☆☆
202114.8776 of 89813.6%★☆☆☆☆
201927.8699 of 90222.5%★☆☆☆☆
201820.4751 of 89315.9%★☆☆☆☆

Hispanic

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankMassachusetts percentileRating
202627.0384 of 47519.2%★☆☆☆☆
202526.4373 of 45818.6%★☆☆☆☆
202457.3133 of 44670.2%★★★★☆
202349.2176 of 42058.1%★★★☆☆
202227.1324 of 40119.2%★☆☆☆☆
202119.1349 of 3797.9%☆☆☆☆☆
201945.5215 of 39846.0%★★☆☆☆
201833.0275 of 37927.4%★☆☆☆☆

Low Socio Economic Status

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankMassachusetts percentileRating
202634.1521 of 74229.8%★☆☆☆☆
202533.8527 of 73628.4%★☆☆☆☆
202451.4337 of 76055.7%★★★☆☆
202341.1454 of 75740.0%★★☆☆☆
202233.8547 of 77229.1%★☆☆☆☆
202124.3590 of 70516.3%★☆☆☆☆
201946.3382 of 70045.4%★★☆☆☆
201834.8505 of 68526.3%★☆☆☆☆

Male

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankMassachusetts percentileRating
202634.0591 of 87932.8%★★☆☆☆
202532.0602 of 88431.9%★★☆☆☆
202447.5471 of 89147.1%★★☆☆☆
202334.5611 of 89631.8%★★☆☆☆
202224.0712 of 90821.6%★☆☆☆☆
202114.7783 of 90413.4%★☆☆☆☆
201925.8720 of 90720.6%★☆☆☆☆
201814.3807 of 89810.1%★☆☆☆☆

Special Education

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankMassachusetts percentileRating
202615.9686 of 7093.2%☆☆☆☆☆
202517.8658 of 7178.2%☆☆☆☆☆
202425.5573 of 73121.6%★☆☆☆☆
202321.4620 of 70311.8%★☆☆☆☆
202234.2629 of 90530.5%★★☆☆☆
202123.4743 of 89416.9%★☆☆☆☆
201949.2448 of 89650.0%★★★☆☆
201832.6666 of 88624.8%★☆☆☆☆

Tested In Person

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankMassachusetts percentileRating
20219.7870 of 9255.9%☆☆☆☆☆

Tested Remotely

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankMassachusetts percentileRating
202127.4281 of 39929.6%★☆☆☆☆
How student groups rank statewide ? (each group's percentile vs the same group at other schools — higher is better; the +/- beside each compares the group with this school's overall percentile)
English Language Learner (2026)85th percentile+60 vs school
African American (2026)34th percentile+9 vs school
Male (2026)33rd percentile+8 vs school
Low Socio Economic Status (2026)30th percentile+5 vs school
Tested Remotely (2021)30th percentile+18 vs school
Hispanic (2026)19th percentile-6 vs school
Female (2026)18th percentile-6 vs school
Asian (2026)10th percentile-15 vs school
Disabled (2022)7th percentile-11 vs school
Tested In Person (2021)6th percentile-6 vs school
Special Education (2026)3rd percentile-22 vs school
By subject vs Massachusetts (2025-2026) ?
Science33%-8 vs state
English Language Arts27%-13 vs state
Mathematics27%-14 vs state

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What people are saying
by a parent
Friday, April 22, 2016

Open Quote I love this school so much more compared to a school nearby who has a much better ranking than the Mather. Whenever, I visit I feel so very welcomed, cared for and taken serious by stuff and teachers. The communication and exchange of information is superb. The parent council is very active and supportive. They keep us parents involved and informed thanks to active communication tools like the school´s website, emails and Facebook. On a monthly basis there are meetings where experts inform us of all kinds of pertinent information related to the school and the students like gardening projects, extending plans to a K-8, state wide tests, etc. Since the new principal, Ms. Nwosu, started to work there there are no more sweet treats allowed. No more sweet treat rewards. I love that! The teachers I dealt with so far are very kind, helpful and supporting. My child is very happy at the Mather. Pupils perform at least 2-3 times during a school year on stage in front of parents and teachers which boosts self-confidence in many of the pupils. (Nothing like this happened so far in the other school close by with better rankings!) So why are the rankings not the greatest? May be because the Mather doesn´t have an AWC program. So, once students qualify for AWC they will leave the school which is mostly in 3rd, 4th and 5th grades, and leaves the students behind who didn´t make it.
I was very much torn apart to make the decision for one of my children to go to the better ranked school nearby and the other attending the Mather. Comparing the two I easily can say: The Mather rocks and convinced me all the way that it is the better school! Close Quote




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Frequently Asked Questions about Mather Elementary School

Mather Elementary School ranks in the bottom 24.8% of Massachusetts elementary schools.

Students at Mather Elementary School are 36% African American, 33% Asian, 20% Hispanic, 7% White, 4% Two or more races.

In the 2024-25 school year, 473 students attended Mather Elementary School.

Rate Mather Elementary School!



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Latest Massachusetts data All new data »
2024–25 dropout rates & graduation ratesMar 5, 2026
2024–25 MCAS Next Generation test scoresSep 29, 2025
2023–24 school spending dataMay 8, 2025
2023–24 dropout rates & graduation ratesMay 1, 2025


SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau and the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS: Not all boundaries are included. We make every effort to ensure that boundaries are up-to-date. But it's important to note that these are approximations and are for general informational purposes only. To verify legal descriptions of boundaries or school locations, contact your local tax assessor's office and/or school district.

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