Summary:
ZIP code 01603 in Worcester, Massachusetts contains five public elementary schools — Gates Lane, Columbus Park, Goddard School/Science Technical, Canterbury, and Heard Street — all part of the Worcester district and serving about 1,861 students combined. Four of the five serve prekindergarten through grade 6; Heard Street serves kindergarten through grade 6. Enrollment ranges from 245 students at Heard Street to 547 at Gates Lane. It is important context that the Worcester district itself ranks 304th of 351 districts statewide, so all five schools sit inside a district performing well below the state average.
Heard Street is the clear area leader: it is the only school here that beats the district average in all three subjects (ELA 37.32%, math 28.17%, science 46.15%), and its science score is above the state's 40.98%. It also has the lowest per-student spending ($15,776) and the highest student-teacher ratio (13.8). Columbus Park is the biggest improver, jumping from the 7th to the 30th percentile in two years, with science nearly doubling to 46.15% — tied with Heard Street for best in the area. At the other end, Gates Lane is the largest school but the lowest performer (9th percentile, 0 stars) and declined in every subject, while Goddard spends the most ($19,099) yet ranks only in the 20th percentile.
For parents, the key pattern is that science is this area's relative strength while math is its weakest subject — not one of the 20 grade-level math results meets its state benchmark. Spending and staffing show no positive relationship with results here. Heard Street's science and 3rd/5th-grade ELA results, and Columbus Park's rapid improvement, are the two clearest bright spots. Note that free/reduced-lunch percentages are not reported for any of these schools, so that information is unavailable.
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