Dudley-Charlton Reg
1 high school and 2 elementary schools in our rankings
Students from Charlton and Dudley attend Dudley-Charlton Reg schools, including Shepherd Hill Regional High School.
Ranks #206 of 328 Massachusetts school districts.
MCAS is the share of students meeting or exceeding expectations in 2026, grades 3–10 combined. Spending is total per-pupil expenditure in FY2024.
Dudley-Charlton Regional School District serves the towns of Charlton and Dudley in south-central Massachusetts, roughly 15 miles south of Worcester. Both communities are predominantly residential, with a rural-suburban character defined by wooded hills, farmland, and a mix of single-family neighborhoods. Charlton's single-family assessed value and per capita income are notably higher than Dudley's, reflecting the town's established residential base. The district's high school, Shepherd Hill Regional High School, is located in Dudley and serves students from both communities. Charlton is also home to the Charlton Orchards farm, a longstanding fixture of the local agricultural landscape.
How it compares
- Strongest area: AP results, in the top 40% of districts. 77% of AP exams at its high schools scored 3 or higher, vs 69% for the average MA district.
- Area to watch: ELA MCAS ranks in the bottom 26% of districts.
- Trend: Chronic absence has fallen from 25% in 2022 to 13.2% in 2025.
- Trend: Math MCAS is down 8.3 points since 2023 (39.9519% to 31.6222%).
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 Dudley-Charlton Reg
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 (Shepherd Hill Regional High). "MA avg" is the average of all Massachusetts districts with high school data.
Students & classrooms
48.4% female · 51.5% male · 0.1% 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 262 full-time-equivalent teachers.
Attendance
9.8 days absent per student (MA avg 11) · 2.4% 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 Dudley-Charlton Reg with nearby districts
Side by side: test scores, spending, class size, home values and taxes. Distance is between district centers. Compare with any district