Springfield School District

Springfield Public Schools enrolls 23,693 students across 66 schools, making it one of the larger urban districts in Massachusetts. Of those 66 schools, 61 carry a ranking, with a district average of 6.0 out of 10. That mid-tier average is common in large urban systems, but the range within Springfield is wide — where a student lands within the district matters considerably more than the district average suggests.

The top performers are all at the elementary level. Frank H Freedman and Mary A. Dryden Veterans Memorial School share the district's highest score at 8.3 each. Edward P. Boland School follows at 8.2, Alfred G. Zanetti Montessori Magnet School at 8.1, and Frederick Harris at 7.5. The gap between the district's best (8.3) and its mean (6.0) is 2.3 points — a spread that makes individual school selection more consequential here than in a more uniform district. Parents should pull scores for their specific neighborhood school rather than treating 6.0 as representative of their options.

Alfred G. Zanetti Montessori Magnet School gives families a structurally distinct choice. It operates as a magnet program within the public district, offering a child-led, project-based learning environment as an alternative to the traditional track — no private school tuition, just an application. At 8.1, it sits near the top of the district and earns consideration for families drawn to the Montessori model.

One consistent pattern across Springfield's top five: every high-scoring campus is an elementary school. That concentration signals where the district's clearest academic strengths sit. Families with younger children have the most direct path to a high-scoring school — Freedman and Dryden at 8.3 both sit 2.3 points above the district mean. For families weighing a longer-term stay, middle and high school performance data should factor into the picture alongside these elementary scores before committing to a neighborhood.