Summary:
Portsmouth School District serves students in the Portsmouth, New Hampshire area across six schools and grades PK–12: four elementary schools, one middle school, one high school, and a small preschool program. The district enrolls about 2,427 students and ranks 9th out of 166 New Hampshire districts, placing it in the state’s 95th percentile. Overall, the schools perform well above state averages, with especially strong reading, elementary mathematics, graduation, and student-completion results.
Families comparing schools will find strong performance throughout the district. New Franklin School has the highest elementary ranking and the district’s strongest overall reading results, while Little Harbour School leads elementary schools in mathematics and has the best fifth-grade reading score. Mary C. Dondero Elementary School stands out in science, with the highest elementary science proficiency. At the secondary level, Portsmouth Middle School ranks among the state’s top middle schools and shows steady reading performance across grades. All three main elementary schools have mathematics proficiency near or above 80%, while reading proficiency across tested schools ranges from 77% to 85%.
Portsmouth High School is a particularly strong choice for students seeking successful completion outcomes, with a 95.5% graduation rate, a 0.8% dropout rate, and excellent reading and science results. Its main area for improvement is mathematics, where proficiency is lower than at the district’s elementary schools and below the district average. Science is also less consistent across schools: Dondero is a clear leader, while Little Harbour and Portsmouth Middle are lower, though still above the state average. Recent elementary declines in reading and science are worth monitoring, but all schools remain highly ranked. PEEP School - Pre School Program serves only 24 young children, so its small enrollment and preschool focus make direct academic comparisons inappropriate.
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