NCES CCD 2024-25 5 schools CT

Best-Resourced Schools in Waterford, CT

Compiled from official source data by .

5 public K-12 schools in Waterford from NCES Common Core of Data: enrollment, grade span, demographics, and Civil Rights Data Collection statistics for every active campus.

PlainSchools home → About this data
5
Schools
2,303
Students
58.8/100
Avg Resource Index
11.8:1
Avg Student-Teacher Ratio

National city placement

Broad resource and staffing advantage

According to NCES CCD 2024-25, Waterford has more public-school enrollment than 17% of the 4,487 US cities in this directory. Waterford lands in the upper national tier on both the average Resource Investment Index and teacher staffing intensity. Those measures come from different inputs: the index combines reported counselors, gifted access, attendance, and staffing, while the staffing percentile compares the city's student-teacher ratio directly. Agreement across both measures is stronger evidence of broad reported capacity than either score alone, though neither is a test-score rating or a guarantee about an individual classroom.

A full K–12 ladder sits inside the city boundary

Waterford's list includes 2 elementary, 1 middle, and 1 high-school campus, plus 1 combined-grade record. The city average spans every major grade stage, so the ranked table is more informative when read within level than as one interchangeable queue.

Campus spread matters more than the city mean

The 20-point gap between Great Neck Elementary School and The Friendship School shows the range hidden by Waterford's average Resource Investment Index. The city figure is useful for national placement, but families ultimately choose among campuses with different grade spans, enrollment, district affiliations, and reported support fields. Start with schools serving the relevant grade level, then compare the index components rather than assuming the city average describes any one classroom.

City enrollment
Top 83%
School count
Top 99%
Resource Index average
98th percentile
Teacher staffing
90th percentile

Waterford High School accounts for 31.0% of all Waterford public-school enrollment

That dominant concentration means Waterford-wide averages can mask substantial variation outside the largest entity. Grade level: High. The share measures enrollment concentration only; it does not establish how districts allocate programs, capital, or staff. Enrollment-weighted aggregates give this entity more weight than any smaller peer, while an unweighted entity average treats every record equally.

Source: NCES Common Core of Data

Waterford school enrollment varies 2.4× across entities

Waterford school enrollment ranges from 292 students (lowest) to 713 students (highest), a spread of 421 students. That relatively narrow ratio reflects an unusually homogeneous school portfolio for a city this size. Per-school staffing and program breadth can differ sharply at opposite ends of that enrollment range, so the city average should not be treated as a typical campus.

Source: NCES Common Core of Data

Waterford student-teacher ratio is 11.8:1 — low (typically associated with smaller schools or per-school staffing investment that often correlates with stronger per-student supports)

student-teacher ratio is the simplest comparative metric but it does not capture the full picture: the ratio counts FTE classroom teachers against total enrollment, push-in specialists, English-language aides, special-education co-teachers, and counselors are not included in most reporting Lower values often correlate with smaller scale and population characteristics rather than higher resource budgets per se.

Source: NCES Common Core of Data, Public School Universe

# School Score
1. Great Neck Elementary School 69
2. Oswegatchie Elementary School 67
3. Waterford High School 55
4. Clark Lane Middle School 54
5. The Friendship School 49

Most racially and ethnically mixed schools in Waterford

Ranked by the Simpson student-body diversity index (0-100) from NCES race and ethnicity data, where higher means a more evenly mixed student body. It measures mix, not quality.

  1. 1 The Friendship School 69.8/100
  2. 2 Clark Lane Middle School 46.0/100
  3. 3 Great Neck Elementary School 45.8/100
  4. 4 Oswegatchie Elementary School 44.9/100
  5. 5 Waterford High School 43.6/100

What do families ask about schools in Waterford?

Which Waterford school has the highest Resource Investment Index? ▼

Great Neck Elementary School has the highest Resource Investment Index among the Waterford schools in this federal-data comparison at 69/100. The index summarizes reported staffing, counseling, gifted-program, and attendance inputs; it is not an academic rating.

How many schools are in Waterford, CT? ▼

Waterford has 5 public schools with a total enrollment of 2,303 students. Average student-teacher ratio: 11.8:1.

Other Cities in Connecticut

Bridgeport
44 schools
Hartford
44 schools
New Haven
42 schools
Waterbury
32 schools
Norwalk
23 schools
Stamford
23 schools

Side-by-side: Compare any two schools or districts in Connecticut →

Data from NCES Common Core of Data (CCD) 2024-25 and Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC) 2021-22. The Resource Investment Index uses reported student-teacher ratio, counselor access, gifted programs, and attendance; it is not an academic rating. Cities must include at least five schools to be listed. This public-data comparison is for informational purposes: verify current enrollment, attendance boundaries, and programs with the school district before acting. See the guide to understanding NCES data.