Dartmouth vs Up-Island Regional Schools
How the two districts, about 19 miles apart, compare on test scores, high school results, classrooms, spending and housing.
The short answer
- Overall: Up-Island Regional ranks higher, #84 to Dartmouth's #116 of 328 Massachusetts districts.
- MCAS 2026: Up-Island Regional students score higher: ELA 52% vs 45%, Math 54% vs 48% met expectations.
- High school: Up-Island Regional has no high school in our rankings (its students may attend a regional high school), so only Dartmouth has SAT and graduation figures (SAT average 1105).
- Spending: Up-Island Regional spends $15,392 more per student ($34,727 vs $19,335).
- Homes: Homes cost more in Up-Island Regional: single-family homes average $2.36M vs $657K. The average tax bill is $5,276 in Dartmouth and $9,854 in Up-Island Regional.
- Class size: Smaller in Up-Island Regional: 14.8 students on average vs 17.7.
MCAS results, 2026
Share of students meeting or exceeding expectations, all tested grades combined. The districts serve different grades (Dartmouth: grades 3–10; Up-Island Regional: grades 3–8), so the state figure isn't shown.
| Year | Dartmouth | Up-Island Regional |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 45% | 52% |
| 2025 | 52% | 51% |
| 2024 | 49% | 47% |
| 2023 | 53% | 48% |
| 2022 | 50% | 46% |
| 2021 | 56% | 52% |
| Year | Dartmouth | Up-Island Regional |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 48% | 54% |
| 2025 | 54% | 52% |
| 2024 | 55% | 52% |
| 2023 | 52% | 48% |
| 2022 | 53% | 46% |
| 2021 | 43% | 39% |
No test in 2020. Statewide 10th-grade results dropped after 2024, when passing the MCAS stopped being a graduation requirement.
High school results
Averages of each district's ranked high schools. "MA avg" is the average of all districts with high school data.
Classrooms, teachers & spending
Spending is total per-pupil expenditure from all sources in FY2024. Class size is the average across all classes in the district.
Students
| Dartmouth | Up-Island Regional | |
|---|---|---|
| Students in classes | 3,281 | 387 |
| English learners | 1.5% | 4.7% |
| Students with disabilities | 22.2% | 24.6% |
| White | 81.3% | 75% |
| Asian | 1.7% | 0.5% |
| Hispanic/Latino | 7.7% | 13.2% |
| Black/African American | 1.9% | 2% |
| Multi-race | 7.2% | 6.9% |
Homes & taxes
What could you afford in either town?
FY2026 averages for single-family homes from the Massachusetts Department of Revenue; for a district with several towns, the comparison uses the average of its towns. Assessed values usually run below recent sale prices.