Best Public Schools in Jay, ME

Summary:

The city of Jay, Maine is home to three schools that serve students from elementary through high school: Spruce Mountain High School, Spruce Mountain Middle School, and Spruce Mountain Elementary School. These schools are part of the Regional School Unit 73 district, which is ranked 156 out of 176 districts in Maine and rated 1 star out of 5 by SchoolDigger.

Among the three schools, Spruce Mountain High School stands out as the highest-performing, ranking 81 out of 119 Maine high schools in 2024-2025 and having a relatively high 4-year graduation rate of 87.8% for the 2023-2024 school year. The school also outperforms the district and state averages in English Language Arts proficiency for all grades in 2024-2025. In contrast, Spruce Mountain Elementary School has the lowest student-teacher ratio of 10.2 and outperforms the district average in Mathematics proficiency for all grades in 2024-2025.

However, the data also reveals some concerning trends across the district. All three schools have high chronic absenteeism rates of 23.4% for the 2023-2024 school year, significantly higher than the state average. Additionally, Spruce Mountain Middle School and Spruce Mountain Elementary School underperform the district and state averages in Mathematics and Science proficiency for all grades in 2024-2025. The district's low ranking and rating suggest systemic challenges that may be impacting the performance of the individual schools, and the declining statewide ranking trend for all three schools is also a cause for concern.

Choose columns to see: Summary School Students/Teachers Ranking Test Scores Finance All

School													Students/Teachers											Ranking (2025)				Ranking (2024)				MEA English Language Arts (2025)	MEA Mathematics (2025)	MEA Science (2025)	Per Pupil Expenditures (2024)
Name	Type	Grades	Address	City	Zip	County	District	Is Charter	Is Magnet	Is Virtual	Is Title I	Phone	Enrollment	Full-time Teachers	Student/ Teacher Ratio	Free/Discounted Lunch Recipients	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Average Standard Score (2025)	Statewide Rank (2025)	State Percentile (2025)	SchoolDigger Rating (2025)	Average Standard Score (2024)	Statewide Rank (2024)	State Percentile (2024)	Rank Change from Previous Year	MEA English Language Arts All Grades	MEA Mathematics All Grades	MEA Science All Grades	Total
Spruce Mountain Middle School	Public	6-8	23 Community Drive	Jay	04239	Franklin County	Regional School Unit 73	No	No	No	Yes	(207) 897-4319	303	29	10.6	60.7%	284 (93.7%)	9 (3.0%)	3 (1.0%)	3 (1.0%)	3 (1.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	18.4	80^th of 91 public middle schools	12.1%		13.1	89^th of 92 public middle schools	3.3%	9	58.7	20.5	23.2	$21,053
Spruce Mountain High School	Public	9-12	33 Community Drive	Jay	04239	Franklin County	Regional School Unit 73	No	No	No	No	(207) 897-4336	425	34	12.6	58.1%	398 (93.6%)	8 (1.9%)	7 (1.6%)	6 (1.4%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (1.2%)	30.4	81^st of 119 public high schools	31.9%		14.7	108^th of 121 public high schools	10.7%	27	58.9	46.1	21.3	$20,945
Spruce Mountain Elementary School	Public	3-5	12 Tiger Drive	Jay	04239	Franklin County	Regional School Unit 73	No	No	No	Yes	(207) 897-5719	306	28	10.9	70.9%	289 (94.4%)	2 (0.7%)	5 (1.6%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	9 (2.9%)	15	261^st of 289 public elementary schools	9.7%		17.3	263^rd of 288 public elementary schools	8.7%	2	51.4	37.2	8.6	$20,990

Cities Near Jay

City	Distance	# of Schools	Statewide Rank
Livermore	3.07 mi	1
Wilton	7.91 mi	2	110^th
Fayette	9.1 mi	1	248^th
Wayne	10.64 mi	1	59^th
Mount Vernon	10.89 mi	1	51^st

See the top ME Maine cities

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