Best Public Schools in Zip Code 02116

ZIP code 02116 contains four schools — no elementary or middle schools, just three high schools and one alternative PK–12 school — serving 1,156 students, which makes this a secondary and alternative school footprint rather than a full K–12 neighborhood set. Enrollment runs from 125 at Melvin H. King South End Academy to 421 at Snowden International High School, with a median of 305. Three schools sit in the Boston district — Snowden International, Boston Adult Technical Academy, and Melvin H. King — while Edward M. Kennedy Academy for Health Careers: A Horace Mann is listed under its own district. Free/reduced-lunch data is blank for all four, so economic context is unavailable, and spending figures are from 2020-2021 while most outcomes are from 2024-2025 or 2025-2026.

Edward M. Kennedy Academy has the strongest outcomes of the tested schools: the highest graduation rate (91.5%), the lowest dropout rate (6.1%), and the best reported proficiency in the ZIP (18.75% ELA, 18.56% math, 14.1% science, 14.6% biology). Snowden International is the largest school and graduates 85.6% of students, above the Boston district rate of 81.3%, with a 6.7% dropout rate below the district's 8.8% — but its 2025-2026 scores fell sharply and it ranked 340 of 353, the 4th percentile. Boston Adult Technical Academy serves grades 11–12, reports a 67.0% graduation rate, 21.6% dropout, and no listed test scores. Melvin H. King has the highest per-student spending ($65,799) and smallest student-teacher ratio (3.2), yet the lowest graduation (23.8%), highest dropout (42.9%), and many 0% proficiency values.

Graduation and dropout move in opposite directions across these schools, and higher spending does not correspond to better outcomes here — likely a reflection of Melvin H. King's alternative-school mission and student population. Every reported proficiency rate in the ZIP is below the corresponding state rate (45.48% ELA, 43.73% math, 40.5% science), with Kennedy still roughly 25–27 percentage points below state in ELA and math, and Snowden's physics rate at 1.49% versus 46.58% statewide.