Watertown’s Cunniff Elementary School has been recognized as one of the top performing schools in Massachusetts following the release of MCAS results and 2024 accountability data.

The Cunniff School was one of only 57 schools in the state to earn a “School of Recognition” honor from the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. The Cunniff School met or exceeded all but one target set by the state, bringing its total target attainment score to an impressive 89%.
 

This is the second year in a row that a Watertown school has been named a School of Recognition by state education officials. The Hosmer Elementary School picked up the same award last year with a 93% target attainment score.

School of Recognition is the highest designation a school can achieve from DESE upon the release of accountability data. There are six additional accountability classifications, ranked from highest to lowest: meeting or exceeding targets, substantial progress towards targets, moderate progress towards targets, limited or no progress towards targets, in need of focused/targeted support, and in need of broad/comprehensive support.

All Watertown schools continue to make progress towards state targets. The Cunniff and Hosmer schools are meeting or exceeding targets, Watertown Middle School and the J.R. Lowell Elementary School are making substantial progress toward targets, while Watertown High School made moderate progress towards targets. As a district, Watertown is making substantial progress towards targets, according to DESE.

Watertown Public Schools continues to see enrollment increases across all five schools in the district. In total, WPS has a student population of roughly 3,000 students for the 2024-2025 school year.