Summary
John J. McGlynn Middle School in Medford, MA, serves 464 students in grades 6-8 and has shown a positive upward trend in its statewide ranking over the past decade, recovering from a period of low performance to now rank in the 40th percentile. One of the most important things for parents to know is that McGlynn is the lower-performing of Medford’s two middle schools, with a significant achievement gap compared to its sister school, Madeleine Dugger Andrews, located just 0.2 miles away. For example, in the 2024-2025 school year, Andrews outperformed McGlynn by 13 percentage points in English Language Arts and nearly 20 points in Science, despite both schools having nearly identical student-to-teacher ratios (8.8:1) and similar spending per student. This suggests that the difference in outcomes is likely driven by factors within the school, such as instructional leadership or school culture.
McGlynn does have some bright spots. The school shows a notable strength with its Multi-racial student population, which ranked in the 53rd percentile in 2024-2025, outperforming the school’s overall ranking. Additionally, in 8th-grade Mathematics, McGlynn’s proficiency rate (31.69%) actually exceeded the district average (29.47%), pointing to a potential area of instructional strength. However, Science is a major area of concern, with only 26.24% of students proficient—a 14-point gap from the district average. The school also struggles with consistency for vulnerable student groups, as performance for Special Education students and English Language Learners has fluctuated wildly from year to year, suggesting a lack of stable support systems.
When compared to high-performing neighboring districts, the achievement gap is stark. Schools like McCall Middle in Winchester and Gibbs School in Arlington achieve proficiency rates of over 70% in ELA and Math—more than double McGlynn’s rates. Even the Cambridge Upper Schools, which serve a diverse population, significantly outperform McGlynn, with Rindge Avenue Upper School achieving a 69% proficiency rate in ELA. For parents, the key takeaway is that McGlynn is on a positive trajectory, but it faces clear challenges in closing the achievement gap, particularly for its economically disadvantaged students, and lags behind both its district peer and nearby communities.
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