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Best Public Schools in Zip Code 02453


At a glance
4
Schools
1,721
Students
Top rankedJames Fitzgerald Elementary School307th of 899 Massachusetts elementary schools
Biggest riser
James Fitzgerald Elementary School up 110 spots statewide this year
Summary:

ZIP code 02453 in Waltham, Massachusetts covers four public schools — three elementary schools (William F. Stanley Elementary School, Henry Whittemore Elementary School and James Fitzgerald Elementary School) and one middle school (John W. McDevitt Middle School) — with a combined enrollment of 1,721 students, all part of the Waltham district. There is no high school or alternative school in this ZIP.

James Fitzgerald Elementary School is the clear standout: the only school here rated 3 stars and the only one scoring above both its district and the state in all three tested subjects, posting 46.37 in ELA, 54.19 in Math and 45.45 in Science for 2025-2026, with its percentile climbing from the 56th to the 66th. Henry Whittemore Elementary School sits at the opposite end, holding a 1-star rating and the 22nd–27th percentile range across all three years. It is lowest in the ZIP in every subject, and its ELA proficiency of 22.44 is 17.6 points below the state — a much larger gap than its 8.4-point Math shortfall, pointing to a specific literacy concern.

The two schools in between are moving in different directions. John W. McDevitt Middle School is the only school to lose stars (3 to 2), with its percentile sliding to 49th and ELA dropping 6.4 points, even as its strongest feeder elementary improves. William F. Stanley Elementary School is steady but below average at 2 stars and the 36th percentile, though its Science result swung by −14.5 points year over year. Across the ZIP, the top-to-bottom spread between the highest- and lowest-performing school is a remarkably uniform 21 to 24 points in every subject. Note that free/reduced-price lunch data is blank for all four schools, and per-student spending figures date from 2020-2021.

Ranking:
Map legend
E Elementary M Middle H High A Alternative P Private




Cities Near Zip Code 02453

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SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau and the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS: Not all boundaries are included. We make every effort to ensure that boundaries are up-to-date. But it's important to note that these are approximations and are for general informational purposes only. To verify legal descriptions of boundaries or school locations, contact your local tax assessor's office and/or school district.

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