Summary
Haverhill High is a large public high school serving grades 9–12 with 1,922 students in the Haverhill district in Massachusetts, a city district in the Merrimack Valley. In 2025–2026 it ranked 263rd of 353 Massachusetts high schools, in the 25th percentile with 1 star, while the Haverhill district ranked 294th of 351. Its 2025–2026 10th-grade MCAS proficiency rates were 28.86% in English language arts, 25.33% in math, 24.93% in science, and 25.56% in Biology End of Course—above the Haverhill district average but well below state averages of 45.48% in ELA, 43.73% in math, and 40.50% in science.
Academically, the clearest warning sign is a decline since 2022–2023: ELA proficiency fell from 41.20% to 28.86%, science from 35.13% to 24.93%, and math has remained low near 25–27%. Graduation and dropout improved in 2024–2025, reaching 88.4% graduation and 7.7% dropout, slightly better than the Haverhill district. Compared with nearby schools, Haverhill High is mixed against Methuen High: it has higher 2025–2026 ELA (28.86% vs. 25.49%) and math (25.33% vs. 20.39%), but Methuen has higher science (26.50% vs. 24.93%), a higher graduation rate (91.9% vs. 88.4%), and a lower dropout rate (5.9% vs. 7.7%). North Andover High, Georgetown High School, Pentucket Regional Senior High, and Whittier Regional Vocational generally post much stronger outcomes. Lawrence High School and Gateway Academy are lower-performing local alternatives.
Resources do not fully explain the results. Haverhill High spent $15,847 per student in 2020–2021, more than North Andover High ($14,561) and Methuen High ($13,805), and its 2024–2025 student-teacher ratio of 12.5 is lower than both. Yet outcomes still trail those schools, suggesting factors beyond spending and class size matter. The school also serves many students from low-income backgrounds, and its effectiveness varies across student groups. For parents, the key takeaways are that Haverhill High is relatively stronger than its own district and several nearby urban or alternative schools, has encouraging recent graduation and dropout numbers, but remains low-performing in proficiency with declining ELA and science scores.
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