Ralph C Mahar
2 elementary schools in our rankings
Students from New Salem, Orange, Petersham and Wendell attend Ralph C Mahar schools.
Ranks #264 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.
Ralph C. Mahar Regional School District serves the towns of New Salem, Orange, Petersham, and Wendell, a rural cluster in north-central Massachusetts within the Quabbin region, roughly 30 miles north of Worcester. The district's communities are small, largely agricultural and forested, and set among hills and open land near the Quabbin Reservoir. Petersham stands out among them for its notably higher per capita income and single-family assessed values, and it is home to the historic Petersham Common, a well-preserved town center listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The district's towns are known for their conservation lands and quiet village character.
How it compares
- Best of its categories: Attendance, in the bottom 40% of districts. Students attend 92.7% of school days, vs 93.7% for the average MA district.
- Trend: Chronic absence has fallen from 26.9% in 2022 to 17.7% in 2025.
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 Ralph C Mahar
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.
Students & classrooms
48.2% female · 51.3% male · 0.5% 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 59 full-time-equivalent teachers.
Attendance
12.4 days absent per student (MA avg 11) · 8.2% 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 Ralph C Mahar with nearby districts
Side by side: test scores, spending, class size, home values and taxes. Distance is between district centers. Compare with any district