Amherst-Pelham
1 high school and 6 elementary schools in our rankings
Students from Amherst, Leverett, Pelham and Shutesbury attend Amherst-Pelham schools, including Amherst Regional High School.
Ranks #99 of 328 Massachusetts school districts — top 31%.
MCAS is the share of students meeting or exceeding expectations in 2026, grades 3–10 combined. Spending is total per-pupil expenditure in FY2024.
Amherst-Pelham Regional School District serves four towns in Hampshire County, Massachusetts: Amherst, Leverett, Pelham, and Shutesbury, all located in the Pioneer Valley west of the Quabbin Reservoir. The district's high school is Amherst Regional High School, located in the town of Amherst, home to the University of Massachusetts Amherst and Amherst College, which give the area a strong college-town character alongside its rural hill-town surroundings. Single-family home values across the four towns are generally above the state's typical range, with Amherst having the highest average assessed value among them, and the communities are known for their agricultural heritage and conservation lands. Emily Dickinson, who lived and wrote in Amherst, is among the most celebrated American poets, and her family homestead is part of the town's cultural identity.
How it compares
- Strongest area: SAT scores, in the top 8% of districts. Its high schools average 1269 on the SAT, vs 1113 for the average MA district.
- Area to watch: Graduation rate ranks in the bottom 38% of districts.
- Top school: Amherst Regional High, #43 of 335 Massachusetts high schools.
- Trend: MCAS results and attendance have held steady over the past three years.
A district's overall rank is the average statewide percentile of its ranked schools, with a 10% discount for single-school districts. Category standings compare the average of each district's ranked schools and count only districts with data. How we rank
Schools in Amherst-Pelham
We rank high schools that report SAT results and elementary schools with grade 3 MCAS results, so some of the district's schools (middle schools, for example) aren't listed. Elementary ELA and Math are 2024–2026 averages of grade 3 results.
MCAS results
Share of students meeting or exceeding expectations, compared with the state. Statewide 10th-grade results dropped after 2024, when passing the MCAS stopped being a graduation requirement. There was no test in 2020.
High school results
Averages of the district's ranked high schools (Amherst Regional High). "MA avg" is the average of all Massachusetts districts with high school data.
Students & classrooms
45.1% female · 53.2% male · 1.8% nonbinary
Spending & teachers
Spending is total per-pupil expenditure from all sources. Dollar figures aren't adjusted for inflation. "MA median" is the middle district in each year; small districts can spend far more per student, so the median is a fairer yardstick than the average. Salary is the average across 108 full-time-equivalent teachers.
Attendance
13.7 days absent per student (MA avg 11) · 7.7% missed 20% or more of school days
About the towns
What could you afford here? · All towns A–Z
Town figures are FY2026 averages for single-family homes from the Massachusetts Department of Revenue. Assessed values usually run below recent sale prices. "MA median" is the median of the state's 351 towns.
Compare Amherst-Pelham with nearby districts
Side by side: test scores, spending, class size, home values and taxes. Distance is between district centers. Compare with any district