Summary:
ZIP code 02780 is home to 11 schools — five elementary, two middle, and four high schools — serving roughly 8,190 students, with ten in the Taunton district and one, Bristol-Plymouth Vocational Technical, in the separate Bristol-Plymouth Regional Vocational Technical district. Enrollment is top-heavy: high schools hold 53.0% of students, elementary schools 32.1%, and middle schools 14.9%. Taunton High alone enrolls 2,877 students (35.1% of the ZIP), while Taunton Public Virtual Academy (TPVA) enrolls just 58.
The area splits into two performance tiers. Bristol-Plymouth is the strongest overall: a 98.4% graduation rate, the lowest dropout rate at 1.6%, 10th-grade math proficiency of 49.23% and science of 40.57% (both at or above state), the highest per-student spending at $20,226, and a 13.3 student-teacher ratio. Among Taunton elementaries, H H Galligan leads with 35.19% ELA and 33.33% math — above the district's 28.51% and 23.37% — plus the lowest ratio in the ZIP at 11.6, and 4th-grade ELA slightly above state. Joseph C Chamberlain and Edmund Hatch Bennett also beat the district in both subjects. At the middle level, Benjamin Friedman Middle has the best ELA at 33.43%, with 7th-grade ELA slightly above state, though its math and science lag.
Several schools raise concerns. Taunton High posts 24.42% ELA, 11.4% math, and 14.96% science — far below state — and its rank fell to 19th percentile, 1 star, even though its 91.4% graduation rate beats the district's 89.0%. TPVA reports 6.67% 10th-grade ELA, 0.00% 10th-grade math, and 0.00% biology, with the highest dropout rate at 11.1%. Taunton Alternative High School has the lowest graduation rate at 77.2%. Note that spending figures are from 2020-2021, and small schools' rates can swing sharply.
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