Other / mixed grade configuration · Dorchester, MA

Trotter Elementary School

Federal NCES profile for Trotter Elementary School, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators - Resource Investment Index 29/100.

2024-25 NCES dataOther / mixed grade configurationNCES 250279000343
0/100100/10029/100
👥 S:T ratio
56
🌟 Gifted program
30
📋 Attendance
0
Scored 0–100 from federal NCES and CRDC indicators, resource allocation, not test scores. Full methodology →

The verdict

Trotter Elementary School earns 29/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes near the Massachusetts median.

#20 of 26
schools in Dorchester · Resource Index
29
Resource Index · Lower
11:1
students per teacher
352
students enrolled

Trotter Elementary School has class sizes near the Massachusetts median. Computed live against every Massachusetts school reporting to NCES.

By Resource Investment Index, Trotter Elementary School ranks #20 of 26 schools in Dorchester, MA.

School address

Enrollment

352

Massachusetts · 2024-25 NCES data

Teachers (FTE)

32.0

Federal CCD staff survey

Students per teacher

11:1

vs 12.3:1 Massachusetts avg

-11% vs state

Student-teacher ratio in context

How Trotter Elementary School compares with Massachusetts and U.S. medians

At or below 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 Trotter Elementary School

Trotter Elementary School is a mid-sized combined-grade school in Dorchester, Massachusetts, enrolling 352 students.

Class sizes run a bit leaner than typical: 11:1 puts it in the smaller third of Massachusetts schools by student-teacher ratio.

With 352 students, its enrollment sits close to the Massachusetts median campus size.

Its Resource Investment Index trails 94% of the 1,831 Massachusetts schools with a score on record, one of the lower results on this measure.

Its student body is led by African American (50%) and Hispanic or Latino (41%) (diversity index 59/100).

Chronic absenteeism is elevated: 63.1% of students missed 10% or more of school days (2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection).

The surrounding Boston spends $34,835 per pupil, 55% above the Massachusetts average, a better-resourced district than most.

Among Dorchester's public schools, it stands alongside Boston Latin Academy (1,693 students): Trotter Elementary School is smaller than that campus by headcount and runs leaner classes (11:1 vs 18.6:1).

Boston also operates Boston Latin School (2,424 students) and Boston Latin Academy (1,693 students) alongside Trotter Elementary 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 Trotter Elementary School compares

Trotter Elementary 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 11:1 ▼ 11% 12.3:1 15.7:1
Enrollment 352 top 62% - -

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

11:1
Leaner classes than 83% of US schools, among the more generously staffed nationally.
352
Bigger than 40% of US schools by enrollment, mid-sized for the country.

Equity indicators (what these measure)

Staffing depth
11:1
students per teacher - 11% below state mean
Top 34% in Massachusetts - lower ratio than 66% of state schools
Well under the widely cited 15:1 individualized-attention benchmark, among the leaner class loads nationally.
Engagement
63.1%
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
$34,835
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
Counselors0.0 FTE
Student-support staffing from the Civil Rights Data Collection.
Discipline context
2
in-school suspensions + 23 out-of-school
Suspension rate: 0.6 per 100 students. Combined in-school and out-of-school rate: 7.1 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

African American 49.7%
Hispanic or Latino 40.6%
Two or More 4.3%
White 2.8%
Asian 1.7%
American Indian / Alaska Native 0.6%
Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander 0.3%

Largest group: African American at 49.7% of enrollment.

Student-body diversity index 58.5/100

Simpson diversity index - at 58.5, Trotter Elementary School is more mixed than the Massachusetts school average of 47.3.

Programs

Funding & spending

District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Boston, which includes Trotter Elementary School.

$34,835
Per student
+55%
vs Massachusetts
Avg $22,458
+110%
vs U.S.
Avg $16,593
Revenue mix
Local 62.0%
State 25.9%
Federal 12.1%

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 Trotter Elementary School Compares to District-Mates

School Enrollment Economic Profile Student-Teacher Ratio
Boston Latin School Larger No free-lunch data Higher S:T ratio
Boston Latin Academy Larger No free-lunch data Higher S:T ratio
O'bryant School of Math & Science Larger No free-lunch data Higher S:T ratio
East Boston High School Larger No free-lunch data Higher S:T ratio
Madison Park Technical Vocational High School Larger No free-lunch data Similar S:T ratio

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

Other Schools in This District

Boston · 5 sibling schools

View district profile

Similar other schools in Dorchester

6 comparable other schools (grades Mixed) serving the same city.

Similar other 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 Trotter Elementary 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 Trotter Elementary School

How many students attend Trotter Elementary School?

Trotter Elementary School has 352 students enrolled. It is a public school in Dorchester, MA.

What is the student-teacher ratio at Trotter Elementary School?

The student-teacher ratio at Trotter Elementary School is 11:1, which is 11% lower than the Massachusetts average of 12.3:1 and 30% 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 Trotter Elementary School?

The largest demographic group at Trotter Elementary School is African American at 49.7% of enrollment, in Dorchester, MA. Its student body is more racially and ethnically mixed than most US schools, with a diversity index of 58.5/100.

What is the Resource Investment Index for Trotter Elementary School?

Trotter Elementary School has a Resource Investment Index of 29/100 (lower reported resources relative to schools nationally) based on 3 factors: student-teacher ratio, attendance rates. Not a test-score or academic measure (national median ~41/100, see methodology).

How does Trotter Elementary School rank among schools in Dorchester?

By Resource Investment Index, Trotter Elementary School ranks #20 of 26 schools in Dorchester, MA. This compares federal resource and staffing data among local peers; it is not a test-score or academic ranking. See all schools in Dorchester on the city page.

Is Trotter Elementary School a good school?

Trotter Elementary School earns 29/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes near the Massachusetts median. 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 Boston?

Besides Trotter Elementary School, Boston also operates Boston Latin School (2,424 students), Boston Latin Academy (1,693 students), and O'bryant School of Math & Science (1,509 students). See the Boston 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.