NCES CCD 2024-25 29 schools MA

Best-Resourced Schools in Lawrence, MA

Compiled from official source data by .

29 public K-12 schools in Lawrence 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
29
Schools
15,552
Students
35/100
Avg Resource Index
11.7:1
Avg Student-Teacher Ratio

National city placement

Lean reported-resource profile

According to NCES CCD 2024-25, Lawrence has more public-school enrollment than 89% of the 4,487 US cities in this directory. Lawrence's average Resource Investment Index falls in the lower portion of the 4,487-city comparison set. The index is a resource snapshot, not an academic grade: it reflects the federal staffing, counselor, gifted-program, and attendance fields available for local campuses. The most useful next step is to open the individual schools below and identify which component is pulling each score down, because the same city average can hide very different campus-level constraints.

A full K–12 ladder sits inside the city boundary

Lawrence's list includes 14 elementary, 3 middle, and 3 high-school campuses, plus 9 combined-grade records. The city average spans every major grade stage, so the ranked table is more informative when read within level than as one interchangeable queue.

The composite and staffing measures point in different directions

Lawrence's average Resource Investment Index sits at the 25th percentile, while its teacher-staffing measure sits at the 90th percentile. The 65-point percentile gap is a reminder that the index is not a class-size score: counselors, gifted-program reporting, and attendance also affect it. Compare those components directly when two schools have similar index totals; the same headline score can arise from a different mix of reported resources.

City enrollment
Top 11%
School count
Top 9%
Resource Index average
25th percentile
Teacher staffing
90th percentile

Lawrence High School accounts for 22.2% of all Lawrence public-school enrollment

That concentration means Lawrence-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

Lawrence school enrollment varies 47× across entities

Lawrence school enrollment ranges from 74 students (lowest) to 3,453 students (highest), a spread of 3,379 students. That ratio is among the widest observed and reflects extreme heterogeneity inside a single city, with small specialty programs listed alongside large comprehensive campuses. 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

Lawrence student-teacher ratio is 11.7:1 — 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

3 of Lawrence's 29 listed schools are charters

10% of the city's listed public-school campuses are reported as charter schools in NCES CCD. Charter status identifies a different governance arrangement; it does not establish admissions availability, academic quality, or the share of city students enrolled in those campuses. Open each school record to compare enrollment and staffing directly.

Source: NCES Common Core of Data

# School Score
1. School for Exceptional Studies 52
2. Phoenix Academy Public Charter High School Lawrence 50
3. High School Learning Center 46
4. Community Day Charter Public School 44
5. Rollins Early Childhood Center 44
6. Guilmette Middle School 43
7. James F Hennessey 42
8. John Breen School 42
9. Lawrence High School 40
10. Lawrence Family Public Academy 39
11. Emily G Wetherbee 38
12. Alexander B Bruce 38
13. Lawrence Family Development Charter School 36
14. Edward F. Parthum 36
15. Robert Frost 36
16. Arlington Elementary 35
17. John K Tarbox 34
18. Francis M Leahy 32
19. Rise Academy 31
20. Arlington Middle School 30
21. Oliver Elementary School 29
22. Parthum Middle School 28
23. Frost Middle School 28
24. Oliver Middle School 28
25. Gerard a. Guilmette 24
26. Spark Academy 24
27. Leonard Middle School 24
28. Lawlor Early Childhood Center 24
29. South Lawrence East Elementary School 19

Most racially and ethnically mixed schools in Lawrence

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 Phoenix Academy Public Charter High School Lawrence 34.6/100
  2. 2 Robert Frost 22.9/100
  3. 3 John Breen School 21.3/100
  4. 4 Frost Middle School 19.2/100
  5. 5 School for Exceptional Studies 17.5/100

What do families ask about schools in Lawrence?

Which Lawrence school has the highest Resource Investment Index? ▼

School for Exceptional Studies has the highest Resource Investment Index among the Lawrence schools in this federal-data comparison at 52/100. The index summarizes reported staffing, counseling, gifted-program, and attendance inputs; it is not an academic rating.

How many schools are in Lawrence, MA? ▼

Lawrence has 29 public schools with a total enrollment of 15,552 students. 3 are charter schools. Average student-teacher ratio: 11.7:1.

Other Cities in Massachusetts

Springfield
71 schools
Worcester
49 schools
Dorchester
29 schools
Lowell
29 schools
Lynn
28 schools
New Bedford
28 schools

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

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.