Mary C. Dondero Elementary School

Located at 32 Van Buren Ave., in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, Mary C. Dondero Elementary School is an average-sized elementary campus that teaches 328 students (grades K through 5), one of the schools within Portsmouth School District. By comparison, New Hampshire's public schools average about 249 students each, so Mary C. Dondero Elementary School sits 32% above that benchmark.

Portsmouth School District runs 6 schools in total, collectively educating 2,427 students. Mary C. Dondero Elementary School is one of those campuses.

In terms of who attends, Mary C. Dondero Elementary School shows that 71% of the student body identifies as White. Beyond that, the school records 12% Asian, 6% Hispanic, 6% multiracial, 4% Black. By comparison, Rockingham County as a whole is about 91% White, so the school skews visibly less White than its surroundings.

On the resource side, The school reports having 35 full-time-equivalent teachers, for a student-teacher ratio near 9.4:1. Statewide, the average ratio sits near 11.0:1, putting Mary C. Dondero Elementary School tighter than the state norm the norm. Roughly 14% of students at Mary C. Dondero Elementary School qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a commonly cited indicator of low-income enrollment.

With demographic context factored in, Mary C. Dondero Elementary School sits in the top 10% of New Hampshire schools after the BeatsExpectations adjustment. Predicted proficiency for the school's FRL share is roughly 54.7%; actual is 75.6%, +20.9 points clear of the demographic baseline.

Across the wider county, census data for Rockingham County shows median household earnings sit near $118,331, 46% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and the poverty rate sits near 3%. Across Rockingham County's 99 public schools (combined enrollment of about 41,753 students), Mary C. Dondero Elementary School is one campus in the mix.

Nearest neighbor: Rye Elementary School, around 0.9 miles off. 8 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius. Among the 7 schools in that immediate cluster with test data (this one included), Mary C. Dondero Elementary School ranks 4th on composite proficiency, higher than the local average of 72.5%.

Mary C. Dondero Elementary School operates from an outer-ring location.

Over the past 7-year window. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at Mary C. Dondero Elementary School has edged up 14%, going from 288 students in 2018 to 328 in 2025. The Asian share of enrollment ticked down from 17% to 12% over that span.

In the discussion threads here, members of the Mary C. Dondero Elementary School community share and discuss fundraisers, lost-and-found posts, and report-card season. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.