Summary:
ZIP code 01852 covers part of Lowell, Massachusetts, and contains two middle schools, both in the Lowell Public Schools district and both serving grades 5–8: James Sullivan Middle School, with 625 students, and B.F. Butler Middle School, with 516 students. Together they enroll 1,141 students.
B.F. Butler Middle School is the stronger of the two. It ranks 274 of 478 in 2025–2026 (43rd percentile, 2 stars) versus 393 of 478 (18th percentile, 1 star) for James Sullivan Middle School, and it has climbed steadily from 330 of 493 in 2023–2024. Butler matches or exceeds the district in all-grade ELA (27.31% vs 27.26%), math (32.53% vs 32.38%), and science (29.03% vs 23.00%), while Sullivan trails the district in all three core subjects (19.09% ELA, 25.59% math, 19.54% science). Butler's 8th-grade results are the standout: 42.45% in ELA and 52.83% in math — the only results in this data set above the state average — compared with 15.79% and 29.32% at Sullivan.
James Sullivan Middle School does show pockets of strength, including 5th-grade math (29.69%) and science (26.77%), both above Butler and the district, plus 6th-grade ELA and 7th-grade math. Sullivan's 8th-grade civics fell from 27.15% in 2024–2025 to 12.31% in 2025–2026, while Butler improved in every core subject. Sullivan has the smaller classes (12.4 vs 13.1 students per teacher) and higher per-student spending ($15,886 vs $15,281), though that spending is from 2020–2021. Free/reduced-lunch data are not reported for either school. Both schools remain below state averages in most subjects, but Butler is much closer.
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