Middle school (grades 6-8) · Cambridge, MA

Cambridge Street Upper School

Federal NCES profile for Cambridge Street Upper School, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators - Resource Investment Index 51/100.

2024-25 NCES dataMiddle school (grades 6-8)NCES 250327002759
0/100100/10051/100
👥 S:T ratio
64
🌟 Gifted program
30
🎓 Counselors
81
📋 Attendance
28
Scored 0–100 from federal NCES and CRDC indicators, resource allocation, not test scores. Full methodology →

The verdict

Cambridge Street Upper School earns 51/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes smaller than 90% of Massachusetts schools. It is also more racially and ethnically mixed than most Massachusetts schools.

#3 of 4
middle schools in Cambridge · Resource Index
51
Resource Index · Higher
8.9:1
small classes for Massachusetts
301
students enrolled

Cambridge Street Upper School has class sizes smaller than 90% of Massachusetts schools. Computed live against every Massachusetts school reporting to NCES.

By Resource Investment Index, Cambridge Street Upper School ranks #3 of 4 middle schools in Cambridge, MA.

School address

Enrollment

301

Massachusetts · 2024-25 NCES data

Teachers (FTE)

34.0

Federal CCD staff survey

Students per teacher

8.9:1

vs 12.3:1 Massachusetts avg

-28% vs state

Student-teacher ratio in context

How Cambridge Street Upper School compares with Massachusetts and U.S. medians

Smaller classes than state median

Source: NCES Common Core of Data As of 2024-25 federal staff survey Total enrollment ÷ full-time-equivalent classroom teachers

What stands out at Cambridge Street Upper School

Cambridge Street Upper School is a mid-sized middle school in Cambridge, Massachusetts, enrolling 301 students.

Classes run notably small here: at 8.9:1, Cambridge Street Upper School is leaner than roughly 90% of Massachusetts schools and 28% under the state's 12.3:1 norm, more adult attention per pupil than most peers.

Enrollment of 301 puts it in the smaller third of Massachusetts schools by headcount.

Its Resource Investment Index lands in the upper third of 1,831 scored Massachusetts schools.

Its student body is led by White (34%) and African American (32%), more mixed than most schools in the state (diversity index 74/100).

Counselor coverage is strong, about 93 students per counselor, inside the American School Counselor Association's recommended 250:1.

Chronic absenteeism is elevated: 28.9% of students missed 10% or more of school days (2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection).

The surrounding Cambridge spends $38,967 per pupil, 74% above the Massachusetts average, a better-resourced district than most.

Among Cambridge's middle schools, it stands alongside Vassal Lane Upper School (298 students): Cambridge Street Upper School is larger than that campus by headcount and runs heavier classes (8.9:1 vs 7.1:1).

Cambridge also operates Cambridge Rindge and Latin (2,072 students) and Amigos School (413 students) alongside Cambridge Street Upper School.

Sourced from NCES CCD, CRDC, and F-33 (federal records, not a quality verdict). How we source and compute this.

Source: National Center for Education Statistics Common Core of Data + CRDC + F-33 · 2024-25

How Cambridge Street Upper School compares

Cambridge Street Upper School on the metrics families compare, against Massachusetts and U.S. means.

Metric This school vs Massachusetts Massachusetts avg U.S. avg
Students per teacher 8.9:1 ▼ 28% 12.3:1 15.7:1
Enrollment 301 top 70% - -

Source: NCES Common Core of Data School-level CCD + state/national means from Public School Universe · 2024-25

8.9:1
Leaner classes than 93% of US schools, among the more generously staffed nationally.
301
Bigger than 32% of US schools by enrollment, mid-sized for the country.

Equity indicators (what these measure)

Staffing depth
8.9:1
students per teacher - 28% below state mean
Top 10% in Massachusetts - lower ratio than 90% of state schools
Well under the widely cited 15:1 individualized-attention benchmark, among the leaner class loads nationally.
Engagement
28.9%
chronically absent (missed 10%+ of school days)
At or above 20%, the commonly used threshold for "high" chronic absenteeism, signaling significant barriers to regular attendance.
Funding equity
$38,967
per pupil, district-wide - above Massachusetts avg of $22,458
Well above the U.S. public-school average, reflecting substantially higher local or state investment per enrolled student.
Support staff
Counselors3.3 FTE
Per 93 students, the combined health-and-guidance staffing load for this school.
Discipline context
0
in-school suspensions + 6 out-of-school
Suspension rate: 0.0 per 100 students. Combined in-school and out-of-school rate: 2.0 per 100 students. Reported via the Civil Rights Data Collection.

Overview

  • Common Core of Data (June 2026): enrollment, staffing, and the student-teacher ratio above.
  • Civil Rights Data Collection: discipline counts and program access (AP, gifted, special education).
  • F-33 School District Finance Survey: the district-wide per-pupil spending figures below.

Three separate federal collections, each on its own reporting cadence - which is why this school's numbers line up on a consistent basis against every other school and state on this site, rather than mixing figures pulled from different survey years.

Student demographics

White 34.3%
African American 32.0%
Two or More 12.8%
Hispanic or Latino 11.8%
Asian 8.8%
Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander 0.3%

Largest group: White at 34.3% of enrollment.

Student-body diversity index 74.2/100

Simpson diversity index - at 74.2, Cambridge Street Upper School is more mixed than the Massachusetts school average of 47.3.

Programs

Funding & spending

District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Cambridge, which includes Cambridge Street Upper School.

$38,967
Per student
+74%
vs Massachusetts
Avg $22,458
+135%
vs U.S.
Avg $16,593
Revenue mix
Local 78.2%
State 17.7%
Federal 4.1%

Source: NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey District-level finance · FY 2021-22 Per-pupil expenditure reflects the district-wide average. Individual school budgets are not reported at the federal level.

How Cambridge Street Upper School Compares to District-Mates

School Enrollment Economic Profile Student-Teacher Ratio
Cambridge Rindge and Latin Larger No free-lunch data Similar S:T ratio
Amigos School Larger No free-lunch data Higher S:T ratio
King Open Larger No free-lunch data Similar S:T ratio
Graham and Parks Similar size No free-lunch data Higher S:T ratio
Maria L. Baldwin Similar size No free-lunch data Similar S:T ratio

Comparisons are relative to Cambridge Street Upper School's own figures; each column derives from NCES Common Core of Data.

Other Schools in This District

Cambridge · 5 sibling schools

View district profile

Similar middle schools in Cambridge

3 comparable middle schools (grades 6-8) serving the same city.

Similar middle schools statewide

Matched by enrollment size and by staffing ratio across all of Massachusetts, not just this city - a different peer set than the local comparisons above.

Next steps

Verify locally before acting on Cambridge Street Upper School's federal record.

Federal record (CCD 2024-25, CRDC 2021-22) - PlainSchools assigns no subjective rating; the composite quality score is a transparent, reproducible index computed from this cited federal data.

Frequently asked questions about Cambridge Street Upper School

How many students attend Cambridge Street Upper School?

Cambridge Street Upper School has 301 students enrolled. It is a middle school in Cambridge, MA.

What is the student-teacher ratio at Cambridge Street Upper School?

The student-teacher ratio at Cambridge Street Upper School is 8.9:1, which is 28% lower than the Massachusetts average of 12.3:1 and 43% lower than the national average of 15.7:1. Lower ratios generally mean more individual attention per student.

What is the racial and ethnic makeup of Cambridge Street Upper School?

The largest demographic group at Cambridge Street Upper School is White at 34.3% of enrollment, in Cambridge, MA. Its student body is more racially and ethnically mixed than most US schools, with a diversity index of 74.2/100.

What is the Resource Investment Index for Cambridge Street Upper School?

Cambridge Street Upper School has a Resource Investment Index of 51/100 (higher reported resources relative to schools nationally) based on 4 factors: student-teacher ratio, counselor availability, attendance rates. Not a test-score or academic measure (national median ~41/100, see methodology).

How does Cambridge Street Upper School rank among middle schools in Cambridge?

By Resource Investment Index, Cambridge Street Upper School ranks #3 of 4 middle schools in Cambridge, MA. This compares federal resource and staffing data among local peers; it is not a test-score or academic ranking. See all middle schools in Cambridge on the city page.

Is Cambridge Street Upper School a good school?

Cambridge Street Upper School earns 51/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes smaller than 90% of Massachusetts schools. It is also more racially and ethnically mixed than most Massachusetts schools. This is a resource snapshot, not an academic rating; see the Resource Investment Index question above for what the number does and doesn't measure.

What other schools are in Cambridge?

Besides Cambridge Street Upper School, Cambridge also operates Cambridge Rindge and Latin (2,072 students), Amigos School (413 students), and King Open (391 students). See the Cambridge district page for the complete list.

Source: National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) CCD + Public School Universe (2024-25), CRDC (2021-22), F-33 District Finance Survey (FY 2021-22) · 2024-25 Data as of the 2024-25 school year. Coverage from U.S. Department of Education NCES Common Core of Data. Varies by entity type; administrative districts and certain charter networks may report only a subset of fields.

All federal data sources used on this page

Full source list and how we compute each figure: methodology page.

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Every figure on PlainSchools is rendered directly from the source NCES, CRDC and F-33 federal records, no number is typed in by an editor. Each school's figures reflect its most recent NCES/CRDC submission on file. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of June 2026.