By DAN TOMASELLO
LYNNFIELD — The school system’s MCAS exam results surpassed the state average once again, school officials said during the School Committee’s Nov. 4 meeting.
Students in grades 3-10 take the MCAS exam. The MCAS exam evaluates students’ performance in four categories: Exceeding Expectations, Meeting Expectations, Partially Meeting Expectations and Not Meeting Expectations.
“We have a lot to be proud of with many of our students making positive growth, which speaks to some of the amazing teaching and learning going on in our classrooms every day,” said Superintendent Tom Geary. “We continue to perform above state averages in many areas, and continue to recognize that improvement is an ongoing journey.”
Assistant Superintendent Adam Federico agreed.
“We are still seeing a lot of consistency and growth scores across the various subjects, and we are still seeing a favorable record of achievement,” said Federico. “We also recognize that there are opportunities and obligations to do better in certain areas. We have subject areas and grade levels where the scores are not where we want them.”
Similar to previous years, all four schools have identified focus areas in order to help students perform better on MCAS exams.
Elementary schools’ results
Elementary Math/Science Curriculum Director Christina Perry, Elementary English/Social Studies Curriculum Director Maureen Fennessy, Huckleberry Hill School Principal Lauren King and Summer Street School Principal Karen Cronin gave an overview of the grade 3 and 4 MCAS results.
According to the grade 3 English exam results, 14 percent of Lynnfield third graders Exceeded Expectations, 48 percent Met Expectations, 33 percent Partially Met Expectations and 4 percent Did Not Meet Expectations. The state results from the grade 3 MCAS English exam indicated that 6 percent of students Exceeded Expectations, 37 percent Met Expectations, 39 percent Partially Met Expectations and 19 percent Did Not Meet Expectations.
“There was a decrease across the state,” said Fennessy about the grade 3 MCAS English exam. “We are seeing consistent performance from our third graders on a most challenging, rigorous test for eight and nine-year-olds.”
The results from the grade 3 math exam revealed that 17 percent of Lynnfield third graders Exceeded Expectations, 53 percent Met Expectations, 27 percent Partially Met Expectations and 4 percent Did Not Meet Expectations. The state data indicated that 10 percent of students Exceeded Expectations, 34 percent Met Expectations, 36 percent Partially Met Expectations and 21 percent Did Not Meet Expectations.
The grade 4 English exam results revealed that 10 percent of Lynnfield fourth graders Exceeded Expectations, 52 percent Met Expectations, 33 percent Partially Met Expectations and 5 percent Did Not Meet Expectations. The state average for the grade 4 English exam indicated that 4 percent of students Exceeded Expectations, 36 percent Met Expectations, 41 percent Partially Met Expectations and 19 percent Did Not Meet Expectations.
According to the grade 4 MCAS math exam results, 15 percent of Lynnfield fourth graders Exceeded Expectations, 49 percent Met Expectations, 34 percent Partially Met Expectations and 2 percent Did Not Meet Expectations. The state data from 2025 indicated that 8 percent of fourth graders Exceeded Expectations, 35 percent Met Expectations, 40 percent Partially Met Expectations and 17 percent Did Not Meet Expectations.
Perry said the elementary schools’ grade 3 and 4 MCAS math results have “stayed fairly consistent.”
“With that being said, we are seeing more and more problems that requiring some deeper level thinking,” said Perry.
School Committee Chair Kristen Grieco Elworthy said the MCAS scores at both elementary schools are “fantastic.”
“Anyone who has spent any time in those schools or had children go through those schools is very aware of how dedicated and amazing our teachers are and how wonderful of an education the students get,” said Elworthy.
School Committee member Jamie Hayman agreed.
“I absolutely applaud the work that goes into this,” said Hayman. “I am always in awe of the effort and the attention to detail from this team.”
LMS results
Lynnfield Middle School Principal Stephen Ralston, LMS English Language Arts/Social Studies Curriculum Coordinator Dr. Robin McInerney and Math/Science Director Katie Ambroise gave an overview of the MCAS scores for grades 5-8.
In addition to LMS students taking the MCAS English and math exams in grades 5-8 and the science exam being administered to fifth and eighth grade students, eighth graders also took the MCAS civics exam for the first time last spring.
According to the grade 5 English exam results, 12 percent of LMS fifth graders Exceeded Expectations, 58 percent Met Expectations, 28 percent Partially Met Expectations and 2 percent Did Not Meet Expectations. The state results from the grade 5 English exam indicated that 5 percent of students Exceeded Expectations, 33 percent Met Expectations, 47 percent Partially Met Expectations and 15 percent Did Not Meet Expectations.
The results from the grade 5 math exam revealed that 16 percent of LMS fifth graders Exceeded Expectations, 57 percent Met Expectations, 26 percent Partially Met Expectations and 1 percent Did Not Meet Expectations. The MCAS state data indicated that 7 percent of students Exceeded Expectations, 33 percent Met Expectations, 43 percent Partially Met Expectations and 17 percent Did Not Meet Expectations.
According to the grade 5 science results, 15 percent of LMS fifth-graders Exceeded Expectations, 58 percent Met Expectations, 25 percent Partially Met Expectations and 2 percent Did Not Meet Expectations. The 2025 statewide grade 5 science results indicated that 9 percent of students Exceeded Expectations, 37 percent Met Expectations, 34 percent Partially Met Expectations and 20 percent Did Not Meet Expectations.
The results from the grade 6 MCAS English exam revealed that 13 percent of LMS sixth graders Exceeded Expectations, 49 percent Met Expectations, 28 percent Partially Met Expectations and 10 percent Did Not Meet Expectations. The state data indicated that 10 percent of students Exceeded Expectations, 32 percent Met Expectations, 36 percent Partially Met Expectations and 22 percent Did Not Meet Expectations.
According to the grade 6 math exam results, there were 6 percent of LMS sixth graders who Exceeded Expectations, 44 percent Met Expectations, 43 percent Partially Met Expectations and 8 percent Did Not Meet Expectations. The 2025 state results indicated that 7 percent of students Exceeded Expectations while 34 percent Met Expectations, 42 percent Partially Met Expectations and 17 percent Did Not Meet Expectations.
The results from the grade 7 English exam revealed that 9 percent of LMS seventh graders Exceeded Expectations, 56 percent Met Expectations, 29 percent Partially Met Expectations and 6 percent Did Not Meet Expectations. The state results indicated that 7 percent of students Exceeded Expectations, 34 percent Met Expectations, 36 percent Partially Met Expectations and 22 percent Did Not Meet Expectations.
According to the grade 7 math exam results, 15 percent of LMS seventh graders Exceeded Expectations, 44 percent Met Expectations, 34 percent Partially Met Expectations and 7 percent Did Not Meet Expectations. The state results indicated there were 9 percent of students who Exceeded Expectations, 30 percent Met Expectations, 41 percent Partially Met Expectations and 20 percent Did Not Meet Expectations.
The results from the grade 8 English exam illustrated that 17 percent of LMS eighth graders Exceeded Expectations, 44 percent Met Expectations, 29 percent Partially Met Expectations and 11 percent Did Not Meet Expectations. The state data from 2025 indicated that 11 percent of students Exceeded Expectations, 33 percent Met Expectations, 34 percent Partially Met Expectations and 22 percent Did Not Meet Expectations.
According to the grade 8 MCAS math exam results, 13 percent of LMS eighth graders Exceeded Expectations, 49 percent Met Expectations, 31 percent Partially Met Expectations and 7 percent Did Not Meet Expectations. The state results from 2025 revealed that 8 percent of students Exceeded Expectations, 31 percent Met Expectations, 41 percent Partially Met Expectations and 21 percent Did Not Meet Expectations.
The results from the grade 8 MCAS science exam revealed that 5 percent of LMS eighth graders Exceeded Expectations, 35 percent Met Expectations, 48 percent Partially Met Expectations and 12 percent Did Not Meet Expectations. The state results from 2025 indicated that 6 percent of students Exceeded Expectations, 31 percent Met Expectations, 44 percent Partially Met Expectations and 19 percent Did Not Meet Expectations.
According to the grade 8 MCAS civics exam, 16 percent of students Exceeded Expectations, 47 percent Met Expectations, 31 percent Partially Met Expectations and 7 percent Did Not Meet Expectations. The state results revealed that 6 percent of students Exceeded Expectations, 33 percent Met Expectations, 45 percent Partially Met Expectations and 16 percent Did Not Meet Expectations.
Ralston said the middle school will continue using interventionists to provide additional support for students who need extra help in English and math.
“We also have interventions that are going on with special education teachers and general education teachers,” said Ralston. “There are opportunities for extra help and targeted help where students need that the most.”
LHS results
Principal Patricia Puglisi, English Department Head Maryellen Iannibelli and Science Department Head gave an overview of Lynnfield High School’s MCAS scores.
According to the grade 10 English results, 19 percent of LHS sophomores Exceeded Expectations, 59 percent Met Expectations, 20 percent Partially Met Expectations and 1 percent Did Not Meet Expectations. The state results from 2025 indicated that 10 percent of students Exceeded Expectations, 41 percent Met Expectations, 35 percent Partially Met Expectations and 15 percent Did Not Meet Expectations.
The results from the grade 10 math exam revealed that 18 percent of LHS sophomores Exceeded Expectations, 48 percent Met Expectations, 30 percent Partially Met Expectations and 4 percent Did Not Meet Expectations. The 2025 state grade 10 MCAS exam results indicated that 12 percent of students Exceeded Expectations, 33 percent Met Expectations, 39 percent Partially Met Expectations and 16 percent Did Not Meet Expectations.
According to the grade 9 science results, 10 percent of LHS freshmen Exceeded Expectations, 57 percent Met Expectations, 33 percent Partially Met Expectations and zero percent Did Not Meet Expectations. The state data from 2025 indicated that 11 percent of students Exceeded Expectations, 35 percent Met Expectations, 38 percent Partially Met Expectations and 16 percent Did Not Meet Expectations.