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What's the biggest difference between Thorntons Ferry School and what you expected?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
504
Elementary
DISTRICT 461 · STATE 249
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·MERRIMACK SCHOOL DISTRICT·NCES 330474000280
Thorntons Ferry School
134 Camp Sargent Rd., Merrimack, NH 03054 · (603) 889-1577 · Hillsborough County
GRADES PK–04ELEMENTARY22-SUBURBREGULAR SCHOOL504 STUDENTS
C+
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 38% of New Hampshire public elementary schools
- BTest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- C-Beats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- ·Three-year trend Not available for this school, so the grade uses the other parts.
Grades compare a school only with schools in the same state, because every state gives its own test. How grades work · Top-graded New Hampshire public elementary schools
Student : Teacher
12.1:1
42 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 11.9:1 · STATE 11.0:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
12%
62 students
DISTRICT 12% · STATE 26%
Community
1
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other elementary schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-K | 38 | 8% |
| Kindergarten | 81 | 16% |
| Grade 1 | 93 | 18% |
| Grade 2 | 102 | 20% |
| Grade 3 | 99 | 20% |
| Grade 4 | 91 | 18% |
This year's kindergarten class (81) is 11% smaller than its 4th grade class (91).
Student demographics
26%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 26% · STATE 33% · US 70%
Student head counts by race/ethnicity from federal NCES enrollment data. District, state, and US figures are each group's share of all public school students in that area (US excludes territories). Very small groups may be suppressed in the source, so categories do not always sum exactly to total enrollment.
Gender split
School pathway
Students here typically continue to
Thorntons Ferry School→James Mastricola Upper Elementary School→Merrimack Middle School→Merrimack High School
Based on grade levels within Merrimack School District. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
NHSAS 2024-25 . % Above ProficientEnglish Language Arts
52.0%
NH avg 55.2%
Math
50.0%
NH avg 43.0%
What this means: On the NHSAS, New Hampshire's statewide test, about 52 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 50 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all New Hampshire schools, those numbers are about 55 and 43.
Source: NHSAS. All students, all grades. See all years and grades →
BeatsExpectations
Demographically-adjusted score · methodologyTier
AS EXPECTED
Performing as predicted given the school's student profile
Actual proficiency
51.0%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
55.6%
based on NH schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-4.6pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 51% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 56% typical for New Hampshire schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations measures results against demographically similar schools rather than by raw scores, and this school falls within the typical range, neither among New Hampshire's top nor bottom 10%.
BeatsExpectations runs a per-state regression of proficiency on free/reduced-lunch share, then scores each school by residual. How this is calculated →
Schools most like Thorntons Ferry School
Thorntons Ferry School's state test result (51.0% proficient) is higher than 1 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thorntons Ferry School this school | 504 | 12.3% | 51.0% |
| Matthew Thornton Elementary School Londonderry | 537 | 12.7% | 48.0% |
| North Londonderry Elementary School Londonderry | 451 | 11.3% | 54.0% |
| Griffin Memorial School Litchfield | 428 | 14.3% | 63.2% |
| Hampstead Central School Hampstead | 470 | 9.8% | 54.8% |
| James Mastricola Elementary School Merrimack | 375 | 10.9% | 65.2% |
Matched among New Hampshire elementary schools on enrollment, the share of students from low-income families (eligible for free or reduced-price lunch), and racial and ethnic makeup. Proficient is the average share of students meeting the state standard across all of the school's state tests in 2023-24 and 2024-25, the same combined score our test-score rankings use. Online schools and schools serving specialized populations are not matched.
Where Thorntons Ferry School ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In New Hampshire | In Hillsborough County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 51.0% | #93 of 209 | #24 of 51 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 50.0% | #96 of 209 | #23 of 51 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 52.0% | #110 of 210 | #26 of 52 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 504 | #15 of 300 | #8 of 68 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 12.1:1 | #130 of 179 | #34 of 52 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 25.8% | #81 of 181 | #37 of 52 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 12.3% | #186 of 240 | #45 of 60 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -2.3% | #131 of 139 | #40 of 40 |
Ranked against other public elementary schools. Online schools are left out of every list, and test-score lists leave out schools that serve specialized populations. Each rank links to the full list. Arrows under a test-score rank show places moved since the prior test year, among schools tested both years.
4-year change
SY 2020-21 vs SY 2024-25Enrollment
504
-2 (0%) vs 2020
-22% since 1990-91, when it was 647
Student : Teacher
12.1:1
was 13.0:1
Source: NCES Common Core of Data
Enrollment and staffing by year
| School year | Students | Teachers (FTE) | Students per teacher | Free and reduced lunch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 504 | 41.5 | 12.1:1 | 12% (62) |
| 2023-24 | 535 | 41 | 13.1:1 | 10% (51) |
| 2022-23 | 541 | 41 | 13.2:1 | 8% (42) |
| 2020-21 | 506 | 39 | 13.0:1 | 9% (47) |
| 2017-18 | 516 | 35.5 | 14.5:1 | 9% (44) |
| 2015-16 | 447 | 33 | 13.6:1 | 9% (39) |
| 2010-11 | 524 | 35 | 15.0:1 | 9% (45) |
| 2000-01 | 799 | 49 | 16.3:1 | 4% (35) |
| 1990-91 | 647 | 31 | 20.9:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Thorntons Ferry School.
Since 2017-18: students down 2% (516 to 504); teachers up 17% (35.5 to 41.5).
About Thorntons Ferry School
Thorntons Ferry School is one of the public schools in Merrimack, New Hampshire. It is a large elementary school. The school serves pre-K through 4. Enrollment is 504 students. It has 102% more students than the average for elementary schools in New Hampshire (about 249).
Thorntons Ferry School is one of 6 schools in Merrimack School District, which enrolls 3,453 students in total.
White students are 86% of those enrolled at Thorntons Ferry School. The rest of enrollment is 7% multiracial and 5% Hispanic. Its diversity index, the chance that two randomly chosen students belong to different racial or ethnic groups, is 26%.
The school had 41.5 full-time-equivalent teachers in 2024-25. Its student-to-teacher ratio is 12.1:1. By comparison, the average for elementary schools in New Hampshire is 11.0:1. The school reported 12% of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch in 2024-25. The 26% average for public schools in Hillsborough County is 14 points higher.
On the allk12 Grade, Thorntons Ferry School lands at C+, ahead of 38% of New Hampshire public elementary schools.
Thorntons Ferry School's actual average proficiency rate across its state test results (51.0%) and its predicted rate (55.6%) put it outside the top and bottom 10% of New Hampshire schools.
In Hillsborough County, home to about 426,378 people, median household income comes to about $103,545, the share of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher is 42%, and roughly 4% of residents are in poverty. There are 127 public schools in the county, enrolling about 53,974, Thorntons Ferry School among them.
Thorntons Ferry School's nearest public school is Academy for Science and Design Charter (M) (about 1.9 miles). In all, at least 8 other public schools sit within five miles of Thorntons Ferry School. By average proficiency, Thorntons Ferry School is 5th among 8 schools close by.
For locale, NCES codes Thorntons Ferry School as Suburb: Mid-size.
Federal data show 506 students in 2020-21 and 504 in 2024-25, a difference of under 3%.
You can use this page to share news and ask questions about fundraisers, report cards, and school supplies. You can also rate the school on this page.
Hillsborough County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
426,378
Census ACS
Median income
$103,545
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
42%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
4%
Below federal line
Schools in county
127
53,974 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Merrimack School District
- Merrimack High SchoolHigh · 1,057 students
- James Mastricola Upper Elementary SchoolMiddle · 533 students
- Reeds Ferry SchoolElementary · 504 students
- Merrimack Middle SchoolMiddle · 480 students
- James Mastricola Elementary SchoolElementary · 375 students
Other schools in Merrimack
- Merrimack High SchoolHigh · 1,057 students
- James Mastricola Upper Elementary SchoolMiddle · 533 students
- Reeds Ferry SchoolElementary · 504 students
- Merrimack Middle SchoolMiddle · 480 students
- James Mastricola Elementary SchoolElementary · 375 students
- Gate City Charter School for the ArtsElementary · 160 students
Nearby schools
- Academy for Science and Design Charter (M)1.9 mi · 408
- Academy for Science and Design Charter (H)1.9 mi · 264
- Gate City Charter School for the Arts2.0 mi · 160
- Griffin Memorial School2.7 mi · 428
- Amherst Middle School2.9 mi · 635
- Pennichuck Middle School3.0 mi · 768
Frequently asked questions
About Thorntons Ferry SchoolHow large is Thorntons Ferry School?
Thorntons Ferry School enrolls approximately 504 students in grades PK-04.
Is Thorntons Ferry School an elementary, middle, or high school?
Thorntons Ferry School is an elementary school covering grades PK-04.
How many students per teacher at Thorntons Ferry School?
Approximately 12.1:1 students per teacher at Thorntons Ferry School.
What is the student diversity at Thorntons Ferry School?
Student demographics at Thorntons Ferry School are roughly 86% White, 5% Hispanic, 1% Black, 1% Asian, 7% Two or more.
What district is Thorntons Ferry School in?
Thorntons Ferry School is part of Merrimack School District.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.