Belcher

Belcher is an elementary school in Chicopee, Massachusetts, and it is part of Chicopee. School enrollment was 245 students in 2024-25, in pre-K through 2. The average among elementary schools in Massachusetts is roughly 381 students; this school is 36% smaller than that.

Chicopee (15 schools, 6,755 students) runs Belcher.

Hispanic students make up a majority at Belcher, at 51%. The remaining students are 33% White, 10% Black, and 5% multiracial. Census figures show Hampden County is about 27% Hispanic. Pick two students at random and there is a 62% chance they belong to different racial or ethnic groups; that figure is the school's diversity index.

With 21 full-time-equivalent teachers in 2024-25, the ratio at Belcher was 11.7:1. For comparison, elementary schools in Massachusetts average 12.2:1.

In the county around the school, Hampden County, the median household income is $71,306, roughly 29% of adults have a four-year degree or more, and about 12% of residents live below the federal poverty line. There are 168 public schools in Hampden County, enrolling about 68,540 students in all.

The next-closest public school is Barry, about 0.3 miles away. The count of other public schools within five miles is at least 8.

In the federal locale system, Belcher is coded Suburb: Large, for schools in a suburban area outside a principal city, within an urbanized area with a population of 250,000 or more.

Federal data show a 16% enrollment gain, from 212 in 2020-21 to 245 in 2024-25. Staffing shifted too: the ratio moved from 10.6:1 to 11.7:1.

If you have questions about school safety, transportation, and start times at Belcher, you can post them here. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.