Summary:
ZIP code 03221, which includes Bradford and nearby communities in New Hampshire, has two public elementary schools serving kindergarten through Grade 5: Kearsarge Reg. Elementary School - Bradford and Sutton Central Elementary School. Both are part of the Kearsarge Regional School District. Together, they enroll 264 students, with Bradford serving 177 students and Sutton serving 87. Sutton has a slightly lower student-teacher ratio, 9.8 compared with 10.3 at Bradford.
Sutton Central Elementary School is the stronger current performer overall. It ranks 71st of 230 New Hampshire elementary schools and reports higher proficiency than Bradford in mathematics, reading, and science. Its reading results are especially strong: 71% of students are proficient overall, including 92% of fifth graders. Sutton also improved in mathematics and reading from the prior year. By comparison, Kearsarge Reg. Elementary School - Bradford has 45% mathematics, 49% reading, and 23% science proficiency. Bradford’s strongest individual result is third-grade mathematics, at 67%, but its latest ranking declined to 147th of 230 schools.
For families comparing the schools, Sutton appears to offer the stronger and more consistent academic profile, particularly in reading. Both schools, however, show a notable mathematics decline between third and fifth grade: Bradford falls from 67% to 27% proficiency, while Sutton falls from 60% to 31%. This makes upper-elementary mathematics an important area to investigate. Science is the broadest concern across the ZIP code: proficiency is 23% at Bradford and 38% at Sutton, and both schools experienced substantial year-over-year declines. Bradford may appeal to families interested in a larger school with a strong third-grade mathematics result, while Sutton stands out for its smaller enrollment, slightly lower student-teacher ratio, stronger recent ranking, and exceptional fifth-grade reading performance.
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