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Russell Elementary School

Public Grades PK, KG-5
808th
SchoolDigger Rank ?
of 899 Massachusetts Elementary Schools
Better than 10% of Massachusetts elementary schools
Summary

Russell Elementary School is a PK–5 school at 750 Columbia Road in Dorchester, MA, serving 356 students as part of Boston Public Schools, a district that ranks 299th of 351 districts in Massachusetts (15th percentile, 1 star). Russell's own 2025–2026 rank is 808th of 899 schools statewide — the 10th percentile, 1 star — capping a long slide from the 31st–32nd percentile in 2015–2016 and 2018–2019, a brief recovery to the 25th–26th percentile in 2021–2022 and 2022–2023, and a fall to the 9th–10th percentile in 2024–2025 and 2025–2026.

On the 2025–2026 MCAS, proficiency sits below both the district and the state: ELA 25% (Boston 29.41%, Massachusetts 40.03%), mathematics 11.29% (29.12% and 41.11%), and science 12.12% (24.94% and 40.98%). Mathematics is the sharpest weakness — 11.29% is the second lowest among nearby schools, just above Clap Elementary School's 11.11%. Grade-level results are most worrying in the upper grades: 5th grade posts ELA 18.18%, math 9.09%, and science 12.12%, while 4th-grade math is 7.5% and 3rd-grade math is 15.69%. Science has also dropped sharply, from 25% in 2022–2023 to 12.12% in 2025–2026. ELA is the relative bright spot, up from 19.83% last year but still below district and state.

Among nearby schools, Russell is above only Clap Elementary School (5th percentile) and Winthrop Elementary School (7th), similar to Mason Elementary School (12th), and below Perkins Elementary School (18th), Mather Elementary School (25th), Dudley Street Neighborhood Charter School (25th), Dever Elementary School (26th), Conservatory Lab Charter School (30th), and Everett Elementary School (33rd). Subgroup results are uneven: African American students rank at the 47th percentile and English Language Learner students at the 45th, while special education sits at the 3rd percentile, low-income students at the 19th, and both gender groups at the 11th. Russell's student-teacher ratio of 11.8 is higher than most nearby Boston schools, and its 2020–2021 per-student spending of $25,735 is lower than most of them.

356
Students ?
11.8
Student/teacher ratio ?
$32,273
Per pupil spending ?
70%
Free/discounted lunch ?
 750 Columbia Road
       Dorchester, MA  02125

(617) 635-8803

District: Boston

Racial breakdown:

Hispanic:
59.3%
African American:
30.9%
White:
6.2%
more
 See top rated Massachusetts elementary schools

 Compare Russell Elementary School to nearby elementary schools!
At a glance
▼ Ranking trend: Declining — 31st percentile in 2016 → 10th in 2026
Strengths
✓Small classes — about 12 students per teacher
Worth a look
!Test scores below the Massachusetts average (17% vs 41% meeting standards)
!In the lower quartile statewide (10th percentile)
!Ranking has slipped — down 21 percentile points since 2016
Students meeting standards (2025-2026) ?
This school17%
District avg29%
Massachusetts avg41%
808th of 899
Massachusetts public elementary schools ?
Bottom 10%▼ down 21 pts since 2016
From bottom 31% (2016) to bottom 10% (2026)
See the entire ranking list of Massachusetts Elementary Schools →
★★★★★
SchoolDigger rating ?
46th 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
202613.1808 of 89910.1%★☆☆☆☆
202511.9828 of 9068.6%☆☆☆☆☆
202413.1822 of 91610.3%★☆☆☆☆
202325.0691 of 92825.5%★☆☆☆☆
202225.4699 of 93225.0%★☆☆☆☆
202123.2720 of 93623.1%★☆☆☆☆
201936.2641 of 94232.0%★★☆☆☆
201821.9762 of 93418.4%★☆☆☆☆
201724.4745 of 93820.6%★☆☆☆☆
201635.3640 of 93231.3%★★☆☆☆
201517.7779 of 91414.8%★☆☆☆☆
201427.8716 of 92622.7%★☆☆☆☆
201328.5709 of 92823.6%★☆☆☆☆
201211.6836 of 93010.1%★☆☆☆☆
201114.7805 of 92412.9%★☆☆☆☆
201021.0769 of 92016.4%★☆☆☆☆
20098.5851 of 9096.4%☆☆☆☆☆
200812.9813 of 90810.5%★☆☆☆☆
200716.3791 of 91113.2%★☆☆☆☆
200612.7820 of 91110.0%★☆☆☆☆
20053.5873 of 8871.6%☆☆☆☆☆
20045.4852 of 8823.4%☆☆☆☆☆
20034.0856 of 8843.2%☆☆☆☆☆

African American

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankMassachusetts percentileRating
202643.8100 of 18846.8%★★☆☆☆
202423.2147 of 16712.0%★☆☆☆☆
202261.944 of 17374.6%★★★★☆
202131.9123 of 16625.9%★☆☆☆☆
201947.588 of 17248.8%★★☆☆☆
201859.055 of 17468.4%★★★☆☆

English Language Learner

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankMassachusetts percentileRating
202640.3160 of 29145.0%★★☆☆☆
202543.3138 of 28150.9%★★★☆☆
202443.8135 of 28252.1%★★★☆☆
202337.5165 of 26437.5%★★☆☆☆
202269.729 of 26789.1%★★★★☆
202171.523 of 24090.4%★★★★★
201989.015 of 25894.2%★★★★★
201851.789 of 24463.5%★★★☆☆

Female

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankMassachusetts percentileRating
202614.2775 of 86910.8%★☆☆☆☆
202514.9769 of 86911.5%★☆☆☆☆
202422.0712 of 88619.6%★☆☆☆☆
202326.2663 of 88725.3%★☆☆☆☆
202225.6684 of 90124.1%★☆☆☆☆
202122.6698 of 89822.3%★☆☆☆☆
201933.7638 of 90229.3%★☆☆☆☆
201817.2779 of 89312.8%★☆☆☆☆

Hispanic

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankMassachusetts percentileRating
202629.4362 of 47523.8%★☆☆☆☆
202532.1331 of 45827.7%★☆☆☆☆
202440.3257 of 44642.4%★★☆☆☆
202344.1216 of 42048.6%★★☆☆☆
202247.7168 of 40158.1%★★★☆☆
202152.1138 of 37963.6%★★★☆☆
201966.890 of 39877.4%★★★★☆
201843.5221 of 37941.7%★★☆☆☆

Low Socio Economic Status

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankMassachusetts percentileRating
202627.4599 of 74219.3%★☆☆☆☆
202527.9593 of 73619.4%★☆☆☆☆
202428.8607 of 76020.1%★☆☆☆☆
202339.7477 of 75737.0%★★☆☆☆
202245.5417 of 77246.0%★★☆☆☆
202136.8458 of 70535.0%★★☆☆☆
201966.9177 of 70074.7%★★★★☆
201835.3498 of 68527.3%★☆☆☆☆

Male

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankMassachusetts percentileRating
202614.4786 of 87910.6%★☆☆☆☆
202511.9816 of 8847.7%☆☆☆☆☆
202410.2840 of 8915.7%☆☆☆☆☆
202324.9682 of 89623.9%★☆☆☆☆
202226.5685 of 90824.6%★☆☆☆☆
202127.6664 of 90426.5%★☆☆☆☆
201940.2561 of 90738.1%★★☆☆☆
201829.0674 of 89824.9%★☆☆☆☆

Special Education

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankMassachusetts percentileRating
202615.1691 of 7092.5%☆☆☆☆☆
202247.3463 of 90548.8%★★☆☆☆
202140.3547 of 89438.8%★★☆☆☆
201963.6255 of 89671.5%★★★★☆
201839.0570 of 88635.7%★★☆☆☆

Tested In Person

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankMassachusetts percentileRating
202120.4735 of 92520.5%★☆☆☆☆
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)
African American (2026)47th percentile+37 vs school
English Language Learner (2026)45th percentile+35 vs school
Hispanic (2026)24th percentile+14 vs school
Tested In Person (2021)21st percentile-3 vs school
Low Socio Economic Status (2026)19th percentile+9 vs school
Female (2026)11th percentile~ school
Male (2026)11th percentile~ school
Special Education (2026)3rd percentile-8 vs school
By subject vs Massachusetts (2025-2026) ?
English Language Arts25%-15 vs state
Science12%-29 vs state
Mathematics11%-30 vs state

★
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Frequently Asked Questions about Russell Elementary School

Students at Russell Elementary School are 59% Hispanic, 31% African American, 6% White, 2% Asian.

Russell Elementary School ranks in the bottom 10.1% of Massachusetts elementary schools.

In the 2024-25 school year, 356 students attended Russell 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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