12 public K-12 schools in Salem from NCES Common Core of Data: enrollment, grade span, demographics, and Civil Rights Data Collection statistics for every active campus.
National city placement
According to NCES CCD 2024-25, Salem has more public-school enrollment than 48% of the 4,487 US cities in this directory. Salem 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.
Salem's list includes 4 elementary, 1 middle, and 3 high-school campuses, plus 4 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 31-point gap between New Liberty Innovation School and Salem Prep High School shows the range hidden by Salem'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.
That concentration means Salem-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
Salem school enrollment ranges from 23 students (lowest) to 952 students (highest), a spread of 929 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
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.
| # | School | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | New Liberty Innovation School | 64 |
| 2. | Salem Early Childhood | 62 |
| 3. | Carlton | 51 |
| 4. | Salem High | 50 |
| 5. | Salem Academy Charter School | 49 |
| 6. | Saltonstall School | 48 |
| 7. | Bates | 46 |
| 8. | Witchcraft Heights | 45 |
| 9. | Collins Middle | 42 |
| 10. | Horace Mann Laboratory | 42 |
| 11. | Bentley Academy Innovation School | 40 |
| 12. | Salem Prep High School | 33 |
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.
New Liberty Innovation School has the highest Resource Investment Index among the Salem schools in this federal-data comparison at 64/100. The index summarizes reported staffing, counseling, gifted-program, and attendance inputs; it is not an academic rating.
Salem has 12 public schools with a total enrollment of 4,311 students. 1 are charter schools. Average student-teacher ratio: 12:1.
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.
