Summary:
ZIP code 03245 has one elementary-level school, Holderness Central School, serving students from kindergarten through Grade 8 in the Holderness community. The school enrolls 156 students and offers a small-school setting with an 8:1 student-teacher ratio. Because it includes middle-school grades, its results reflect both elementary and middle-school performance.
Holderness Central School performs well compared with New Hampshire overall. In 2025–2026, 61% of students were proficient in mathematics, compared with 44% statewide; reading proficiency was 77%, compared with 55%; and science proficiency was 65%, compared with 38%. Reading is the school’s strongest overall subject, while science shows the largest advantage over the state. Upper-grade results are especially notable: Grade 8 students reached 71% proficiency in mathematics, 71% in reading, and 77% in science, while Grade 7 reading proficiency was 100%. The school’s reported proficiency rates were also above state averages in every tested reading and science grade.
The main area for attention is consistency in mathematics across grades. Grade 3 mathematics proficiency was 43%, below the 54% state rate, and Grade 5 was 41%, slightly below the state’s 43%; by Grade 8, however, the rate rose to 71%. Overall results changed very little from the prior year, with mathematics increasing one point, reading holding steady, and science declining two points. The school ranked in the 74th percentile statewide in 2025–2026, following an 83rd-percentile ranking the previous year, and the Holderness School District ranks 28th out of 166 districts. Its small enrollment, low student-teacher ratio, and strong reading, science, and upper-grade results make it a favorable option for families seeking a close-knit K–8 school.
Thank you for your feedback!