Summary
Chelsea High is a public high school in Chelsea, MA, serving grades 9–12 with 1,649 students, and it is the main comprehensive high school in the Chelsea district. In 2025–2026, it ranked 318th of 353 Massachusetts high schools — the 10th percentile, with a 1-star rating — while the Chelsea district ranked 321st of 351.
Chelsea High performs better than its own district and better than the local alternatives, such as Chelsea Opportunity Academy and Phoenix Academy Charter Public High School Chelsea, but it trails most nearby comprehensive high schools. Its 10th-grade MCAS proficiency rates are about one-third of state averages (ELA 15.7, math 15.36, science 13.73, biology 11.08), and proficiency has declined over the last three reported years. Its 78.2% graduation rate is above the district's 70.1% and has stayed above district norms for years. However, the dropout rate jumped to 15.5% in 2024–2025 from 9.2% the year before — the highest among nearby comprehensive high schools, compared with Somerville High at 6.9%, Malden High at 9.2%, and Revere High at 12.9%.
Subgroup results are uneven. English learners are a relative strength at the 31st percentile with 2 stars, and homeless students reached the 50th percentile with 3 stars, though that is a small group. Special education is the clear weakness: 5th percentile, 0 stars, down from the 21st percentile the year before. Low-income students sit at the 12th percentile. Per-student spending is mid-range at $17,676, and the student-teacher ratio improved to 13.1, yet outcomes trail schools such as Everett High that spend less. For comparison, Excel Academy Charter School posts a 95.1% graduation rate and 1.8% dropout rate, and East Boston High School, with a similar overall rank percentile, graduates 94.6% with a 1.8% dropout rate.
Thank you for your feedback!