Several of the state’s top-rated public elementary schools are clustered in the wealthy suburbs west of Boston, with Belmont, Wellesley, and Newton each landing in the top five and making multiple appearances in the top 20, according to rankings released this week by US News & World Report.
The publication’s 2024 rankings for the best public elementary and middle schools in each US state were released Tuesday, comparing more than 79,000 schools nationwide “on state assessments of students who were proficient or above proficient in mathematics and reading/language arts while accounting for student backgrounds, achievement in core subjects, and how well schools are educating their students,” US News said in a statement.
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The top schools in the survey are overwhelmingly in Eastern Massachusetts — the highest entry west of Worcester is number 49, Williamstown Elementary, in the state’s northwestern corner.
The top-ranked school is Albert S. Woodward Memorial School in Southborough, a small school that serves grades 2 and 3 and has an enrollment of 269 and a student-teacher ratio of 13 to 1, according to US News.
Belmont has three K-4 schools in the top 20, with Winn Brook ranked second, Mary Lee Burbank coming in sixth, and Daniel Butler rated 20th. Wellesley has two K-5 schools in the top 20, with Hunnewell ranked third and John D. Hardy ranked 12th. Newton has two K-5 schools in the top 10, with Mason-Rice finishing fourth and John Ward 10th.
The popular Eliot K-8 Innovation School in Boston’s North End, which has a student population just below 800 and a 14-1 ratio of students to teachers, ranked fifth, the district’s only appearance in the top 100.
Rounding out the top 10 schools are Spring Street School in Shrewsbury at number seven, Swallow/Union School in Dunstable at number eight, and Woodland School in Weston at number nine.
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Hildreth Elementary in the town of Harvard ranked 11th, Wampatuck Elementary in Scituate ranked 13th, and Governor Edward Winslow Elementary in Marshfield ranked 15th.
Westwood boasted two schools in the top 20; William E. Sheehan at number 14 and Martha Jones at number 17. Rounding out the top 20 are Vinson-Owen Elementary in Winchester at number 16, and then two Acton schools: Paul P. Gates Elementary at number 18, and the Luther Conant School at number 19.
“The 2024 Best Elementary and Middle Schools rankings offer a way for parents to get a snapshot of their child’s school and how well it’s doing within its community,” LaMont Jones, managing editor for education at US News, said in the statement. “Easily accessible data on student-teacher ratio, district spending, and the number of school counselors available at the school can keep parents informed and involved.”
Here are the top 100 Massachusetts elementary schools ranked by US News & World Report.
- Albert S. Woodward Memorial School, Southborough
- Winn Brook Elementary, Belmont
- Hunnewell Elementary, Wellesley
- Mason-Rice Elementary, Newton
- Eliot Elementary, Boston
- Mary Lee Burbank Elementary, Belmont
- Spring Street School, Shrewsbury
- Swallow/Union School, Dunstable
- Woodland Elementary, Weston
- John Ward Elementary, Newton
- Hildreth Elementary, Harvard
- John D. Hardy Elementary, Wellesley
- Wampatuck Elementary, Scituate
- William E. Sheehan School, Westwood
- Governor Edward Winslow Elementary, Marshfield
- Vinson-Owen Elementary, Winchester
- Martha Jones School, Westwood
- Paul P. Gates Elementary, Acton
- Luther Conant School, Acton
- Daniel Butler Elementary, Belmont
- Alcott Elementary, Concord
- South Elementary, Hingham
- Maria Hastings Elementary, Lexington
- Bowman Elementary, Lexington
- Roger E. Wellington Elementary, Belmont
- High Plain Elementary, Andover
- Paul Hanlon School, Westwood
- Ambrose Elementary, Winchester
- John M. Tobin Elementary, Cambridge
- Huckleberry Hill Elementary, Lynnfield
- North Falmouth Elementary, Falmouth
- Margaret A. Neary School, Southborough
- Field Elementary, Weston
- Joseph Estabrook Elementary, Lexington
- Broadmeadow Elementary, Needham
- J.F. Kennedy Memorial School, Franklin
- Manchester Memorial Elementary, Manchester
- J. Harding Armstrong Elementary, Westborough
- Peirce Elementary, Newton
- Chickering Elementary, Dover
- Loker School, Wayland
- Downey School, Westwood
- Martin Luther King Jr. School, Cambridge
- Lincoln Street Elementary, Northborough
- Joseph E. Fiske Elementary, Wellesley
- Heights Elementary, Sharon
- Old Post Road School, Walpole
- Elm Street School, Walpole
- Williamstown Elementary, Williamstown
- William L. Foster Elementary, Hingham
- Carlisle School, Carlisle
- Bridge Elementary, Lexington
- Joshua Eaton Elementary, Reading
- Burke/Memorial Elementary, Medway
- East Elementary, Sharon
- Countryside Elementary, Newton
- Hopkins Elementary, Hopkinton
- Maria L. Baldwin School, Cambridge
- Annie E. Fales Elementary, Westborough
- Katharine Lee Bates Elementary, Wellesley
- Elmwood Elementary, Hopkinton
- Lieutenant Job Lane School, Bedford
- Lincoln School, Lincoln
- Heath Elementary, Chestnut Hill
- L.D. Batchelder Elementary, North Reading
- John D. Runkle Elementary, Brookline
- Dale Street School, Medfield
- John A. Crisafulli Elementary, Westford
- Floral Street School, Shrewsbury
- Pierce Elementary, Brookline
- Schofield Elementary, Wellesley
- Old Hammondtown Elementary, Mattapoisett
- Johnson Elementary, Natick
- Abbot Elementary, Westford
- Orleans Elementary, Orleans
- South Elementary, Andover
- E. Ethel Little School, North Reading
- Glover Elementary, Milton
- Ivan G. Smith Elementary, Danvers
- Deerfield School, Westwood
- Horace Mann Elementary, Newton
- Willard Elementary, Concord
- Winthrop Elementary, Melrose
- Day Elementary, Westford
- Tisbury Elementary, Tisbury
- Plymouth River Elementary, Hingham
- Blanchard Memorial School, Boxborough
- Fiske Elementary, Lexington
- Manomet Elementary, Plymouth
- Thoreau Elementary, Concord
- J. Turner Hood School, North Reading
- Summer Street Elementary, Lynnfield
- Franklin Elementary, Newton
- Mildred Aitken School, Seekonk
- C.C. Burr Elementary, Auburndale
- William Mitchell Elementary, Needham
- Brackett Elementary, Arlington
- Acushnet Elementary, Acushnet
- Lincoln Elementary, Winchester
- Peter Noyes Elementary, Sudbury
Jeremy C. Fox can be reached at jeremy.fox@globe.com. Follow him @jeremycfox.