Just like when you eat local and shop local, when you “School Local” with the Northampton Public Schools, you enjoy benefits not available anywhere else.
Exceptional teachers: The percentage of our educators rated “exemplary” by statewide evaluators is double the Massachusetts average.
Robustly diverse: Our student population encompasses families of many different racial, cultural and economic backgrounds, and our schools serve students of all ability.
Walkable, bikeable neighborhood school communities: Two-thirds of Northampton Public School students walk or bike to school.
A “Made In Northampton” curriculum developed by our teachers that fosters critical thinking, creative imagination and academic excellence. We don’t take off-the-shelf curricula from corporate publishers and we refuse to narrowly teach to the test.
Of the Northampton High School students who graduated from NPS elementary schools, 89% rate “proficient” or better on the 10th grade Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System math test. For the English test, that figure is 98%.
Northampton High School has the highest percentage of Advanced Placement (AP) class participation in all of Western MA, and is the 8th highest statewide.
Approximately 80.5% of graduating seniors continue their education. Recent college acceptances included many top schools such as Brown, Johns Hopkins, MIT, Princeton, Smith, Swarthmore, Wesleyan and Yale.
Elementary school teachers use the Response to Intervention (RTI) system to provide early, low-stress, individualized support for students in math and reading, so everyone gets the instruction and guidance they need to thrive.