Summary
Southside Middle School is a public school in Manchester, New Hampshire, serving approximately 768 students in grades 5–8 in the Manchester School District, an urban district near higher-performing communities such as Bedford, Hooksett, Goffstown, and Londonderry. The school’s statewide performance remains low, ranking around the 8th percentile most recently, although this is an improvement from its historical position near the bottom of New Hampshire rankings. Within Manchester, however, Southside stands out as the strongest or one of the strongest large middle schools academically.
In 2025–2026, 19% of Southside students were proficient in math, 32% in reading, and 18% in science. Reading is the clearest strength, especially in fifth grade, at 39%, and eighth grade, at 38%. Southside also led the Manchester comparison schools in overall math and reading and tied for the top science result. For comparison, Middle School at Parkside reported 13% math, 25% reading, and 17% science; Hillside Middle School reported 14%, 28%, and 15%; and Henry J. McLaughlin Junior Middle School reported 16%, 27%, and 18%. Southside’s sixth-grade reading result of 21% and special education outcomes deserve particular attention.
Southside’s results have improved gradually, with math rising from 16% proficiency in 2022–2023 to 19% most recently and science increasing from 13% to 18% over the same period, though science has fluctuated. Its student-teacher ratio of 10.2 to 1 is lower than at several Manchester peers, so staffing ratios alone do not explain the academic results. Nearby schools outside Manchester perform much better: Ross A. Lurgio Middle School and McKelvie Intermediate School in the Bedford School District report math proficiency above 70%, while David R. Cawley Middle School and Londonderry Middle School also substantially outperform Southside. Overall, Southside appears relatively strong within Manchester but remains well below statewide and nearby suburban benchmarks.
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