Summary
Margaret A Neary is a grades 4–5 upper-elementary school serving 275 students in Southborough, MA, the final step in a three-school town pipeline (Mary E Finn → Albert S. Woodward Memorial School → Neary). It ranks 23rd of 899 Massachusetts elementary schools (97th percentile, 5 stars), and on 2025–26 MCAS it posted 70.11% proficient in English Language Arts, 81.99% in mathematics, and 69.84% in science, against statewide rates of roughly 40–41% in every subject. The Southborough district ranks 11th of 351 statewide, and Neary outscored every nearby school in both ELA and math — including Elmwood in the higher-ranked Hopkinton district.
Math is the signature strength and the steadiest: proficiency has stayed in a narrow band (80.38 → 78.34 → 79.78 → 81.99), roughly doubling the state rate and running about 15 points above its own district. It beats the next-best peer by 9.3 points and Brophy by nearly 67 points, and the strength holds at both grade levels. ELA is more variable — 75.19 (2022–23) → 64.13 → 65.81 → 70.11 — with 2025–26 marking a rebound above district after two years below it. Science, at 69.84, is the only measure trailing its district (71.32), though still about 29 points above the state and ahead of every other grade-5 comparison school, including David Mindess (49.58). Low-income students rank at the 95th percentile statewide, and results hold across gender and disability subgroups.
Notably, Neary spends the most per student of any school in the comparison set ($21,229) while running the group's largest student–teacher ratio, 14.4, up from 12.7 two years ago — so its top results are happening in larger classes, not smaller ones. Four things are worth watching: a modest multi-year drift from the 99th to the 97th percentile, a 5th-grade ELA gap of about 7 points against 4th grade, the 2025–26 science dip below district, and that rising student–teacher ratio.
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