Schools in Zip Code 01612

ZIP code 01612 covers Paxton, Massachusetts, and contains just one public school: Paxton Center, an elementary school serving grades K–8 with 448 students as part of the Wachusett district. Because it is the only school in the ZIP, there is no local comparison to make — it is simply the option families in this area have, and it spans both elementary and middle grades.

Paxton Center's clearest strength is math. All-grade math proficiency was 48.96%, which is 7.85 points above the state (41.11%) but 4.80 points below the district (53.76%). Third- and fourth-grade math were the standouts, at 58.93% and 57.89%, beating both district and state. Science is far more uneven: fifth-grade science reached 57.14%, above the district and state, while eighth-grade science was only 29.27%, well below the district (53.56%) and state (38.93%). English language arts is the weakest core subject overall — 41.18%, only slightly above the state (40.03%) and 8.22 points below the district (49.40%) — with seventh-grade ELA at 33.33% and fourth-grade ELA at 36.84%, both under the state. Eighth-grade civics was 39.02%, just below the state (39.77%) and 18.45 points below the district (57.47%).

Paxton Center is rated 3 stars and ranked 338th of 899 schools (62nd percentile), while its district is rated 4 stars and ranked 97th of 351 (72nd percentile). Results declined from 2024–2025 to 2025–2026 in the major subjects: ELA fell from 46.71% to 41.18%, math from 53.82% to 48.96%, and science sharply from 60.19% to 44.44%, while civics edged up from 37.50% to 39.02%. The student-teacher ratio was 12.7, per-student spending was $13,904 in 2020–2021, and the free/reduced-lunch percentage is not reported in this data. Overall, the school is above the state in several core areas but generally trails its own district, making it solid but uneven.