Quincy Upper School

Quincy Upper School is a mid-sized Boston public school at 900 Washington Street serving 557 students in grades 6–12, placing it between larger campuses like O'Bryant and smaller charter and alternative options nearby.

The most important thing to understand about this school is a split between finishing and proficiency. Quincy Upper graduates 90.9% of its students with a 1.5% dropout rate — well ahead of the district's 81.3% and 8.8%, and the third-best graduation rate among nine nearby Boston high schools, behind only O'Bryant School of Math & Science (98.2%) and Boston Arts Academy (93.9%). Yet test scores sit in the bottom tier: 21.52% proficiency in ELA and 24.34% in math, ranking the school 303rd of 353 statewide. That position has barely moved in ten years, so this is a steady pattern rather than a slide or a turnaround. Neighbors like O'Bryant and Community Charter School of Cambridge show the city's upper end, while Dearborn STEM Academy, Madison Park Technical Vocational High School, Snowden International High School, Excel High School, Boston Collaborative High School and Boston Adult Technical Academy rank below it on most measures.

Three details stand out for families. Science is the weakest area by far — 6.59% all-grades proficiency, roughly a quarter of the district's rate — and it has fallen fastest. Grade 6 is the opposite story: 47.11% of sixth graders met the math standard, above the state, before proficiency drops sharply in grades 7 and 8. And no student subgroup reaches the state median, though some groups have reached mid-pack in individual years, so single-year swings at a 557-student school deserve caution. Per-student spending is mid-range at $25,455, with a comparatively lean student-teacher ratio of 11.9.