Summary
Downey is a K–5 elementary school in Westwood, MA, serving 271 students within the Westwood district, which ranks 13th of 351 in Massachusetts. The headline: in 2025–2026 Downey is ranked #1 of 899 elementary schools in Massachusetts, and it isn't a one-year fluke — Downey has never fallen below the 93rd percentile in the decade of rank history available, and has earned 5 stars in every year shown.
On 2025–2026 MCAS, proficiency was 79.72% in English language arts, 87.41% in math and 86.96% in science — far above Westwood's 70.61, 73.30 and 74.17, and roughly double the state's 40.03, 41.11 and 40.98. No grade level is weak; even the lowest cell (3rd grade ELA at 75.0) is about 32 points above the state's 3rd grade ELA average. Nearby, Pine Hill Elementary School — Downey's own district-mate, 1.14 miles away — trails by about 16 points in ELA and 21 in math, while Greenlodge in Dedham (1.27 miles) trails by roughly 21 in ELA, 22 in math and 44 in science. Norwood's schools sit at or below the state average, and Avery in Dedham has ELA and math proficiency in the high 20s.
Downey also ranks 2nd of 869 schools statewide for female students, 4th of 879 for male students and 2nd of 709 for special education students — evidence of very small gaps between its highest- and lowest-need learners. In 2023–2024, ELA dipped to 61.64, the only year it fell below its own district, before recovering to 72.73 and then 79.72. Downey achieves this with a 12.5 student–teacher ratio, the second-thinnest among nearby schools, and per-student spending ($22,440 in 2020–2021) similar to Dedham schools with much lower proficiency. Note that free/reduced-lunch data is blank for Downey and its neighbors, so no economic comparison can be made.
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