Wachusett Regional High

Holden · MA · Wachusett · Public


📚AP rigor: 82nd percentile nationally 📖20 AP courses 🎓96% 4-yr grad rate

🧭 A parent's read

  • 96% graduate on time. Nearly every student who starts 9th grade here finishes in four years — the strongest baseline signal a school can post.
  • Course rigor in the top 18% of US high schools. 20 AP courses plus advanced math and lab-science depth — measured against every high school in the country, not just the neighborhood.

Composed from this page's data — every claim is backed by a number in the sections below.

📋 At a glance

Programs & features
  • 📚 20 AP courses offered — Elite
  • 🔢 9 calculus classes · 30 physics · 29 chemistry
Academic signals
  • 🎓 AP rigor: 82nd percentile nationally
  • 🎓 4-yr grad rate: 96% (82nd percentile nationally)

Composed from federal CRDC offerings, EDFacts graduation data, and other public data. Full breakdowns below.

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💡

How Wachusett Regional High compares for families

Stronger-than-average college-prep profile.

  • StatewideAP rigor in the top 18% nationally with 20 AP courses.
  • LocallyMA students outperform the US average on NAEP 8th-grade math (+14 points).
  • vs Similar SchoolsThe closest comparables nearby: South High Community, Shrewsbury High School, Doherty Memorial High and 5 more. See the sidebar to compare side-by-side.

For Parents

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Objective, government-grade data — no school pays us for placement.

🎓 Academic rigor

AP + advanced-course offerings

Elite — exceptional AP + advanced course breadth

82nd percentile nationally

50th 90th ↑ this school
Less rigorMore rigorMost rigor
AP courses offered
20
Math ✓ · Science ✓
Students taking AP courses
365
≈21 per 100 students · uptake, not just offerings
Advanced math classes
37
9 calculus · 28 advanced
Lab science classes
59
30 physics · 29 chemistry
Other rigor signals
No dual-enrollment or gifted program reported

Source: federal Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC 2020-21). CRDC reports what's offered + enrolled — it doesn't collect AP exam pass rates (College Board owns that data and doesn't release it school-level).

SAT / ACT participation

CRDC federal data · 2020-21
SAT/ACT test-takers
0
11th-12th graders who took 1+ college admissions test
Test-taking intensity
0.0
takers per 100 students in grades 9-12

Source: federal Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC 2020-21). Volume — not score — is what's reported here. A higher count means more students at this school are entering the college admissions pipeline. Note: 2020-21 was COVID-disrupted; some districts (especially those that stayed remote longer) report unusually low or zero takers.

🎓 4-year graduation rate · federal EDFacts

What % of students graduate on time?

82nd percentile nationally

50th 90th
4-year graduation rate
96%
Single-point estimate
4-year cohort size
500
Students in the 9th-grade entry class tracked over 4 years
Compared against
17,988
US high schools reporting 4-year ACGR

Source: federal EDFacts ACGR (Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate), 2019 vintage via Urban Institute. EDFacts publishes a range (low-high) to preserve privacy on small cohorts; we display the midpoint.

👩‍🏫 Teacher workforce · federal CRDC

Teacher experience & reliability

% inexperienced teachers (1st-2nd yr)
14.0%
Typical mix. Watch the trend — high turnover can compound.
% chronic teacher absence (≥10 days/yr)
12.0%
Elevated. Teacher absence directly affects classroom continuity and student outcomes.

Source: federal Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC 2017-18 — the most recent vintage that publishes per-school teacher quality fields; the 2020-21 sweep had them suppressed). "Inexperienced" = teachers in their first or second year. "Chronic absence" = teachers absent 10+ days/year.

🏛️ Your state's public flagship

University of Massachusetts-Amherst

58%
admit rate
$17,772
in-state tuition/yr · $40,449 out-of-state
1300–1480
SAT 25–75 · ACT 29–33

The in-state tuition gap is the flagship's biggest draw — most in-state families pay far less than the out-of-state sticker. Average net price after aid runs about $22,383/yr. Admission odds depend on your student's GPA and test scores, not which high school they attend.

See the full University of Massachusetts-Amherst profile → Estimate your odds with your scores →

Source: IPEDS admissions, tuition & enrollment + College Scorecard net price. Flagship = the state's primary public research university.

Chronic absenteeism

Share of students absent 15+ days
42.0%
Well above the national average (~16%). At this level, chronic absence becomes a leading driver of enrollment loss as families rotate to other schools.
Students absent 15+ days
748
Federal definition: absent (excused or unexcused) for at least 15 of ~180 school days — about 10% of the school year.

Why this matters to enrollment: Chronic absence is the most reliable early indicator that a student will leave a school — either by transferring out, dropping out, or matriculating to a charter or private alternative. At this level, today's absentees become next year's enrollment loss and the year-after's revenue loss.

Source: U.S. Department of Education, Civil Rights Data Collection 2020–2021. Rate = students chronically absent ÷ 2024 total enrollment.

Counselor capacity

Student : Counselor
198:1
Below the ASCA 250:1 recommendation — strong capacity for college planning, course selection, and student supports.
Counselor FTE
9.0
Full-time-equivalent school counselors on staff.
Teacher FTE
137
Full-time-equivalent classroom teachers.

Source: U.S. Department of Education, Civil Rights Data Collection 2020-2021. Counselor ratio = the school's most recent total enrollment ÷ counselor FTE. The American School Counselor Association (ASCA) recommends a 250:1 maximum; the US national median across schools with on-staff counselors is roughly 430:1.

Enrollment trend & projection

Grade 12 went from 475 in 2021 to 473 in 2024 — over 3 years.
-0.4%

Total enrollment + grade 12, NCES Common Core of Data (2021–2024).

If the recent trend holds…

At its recent rate of -3.3%/year, projecting from 2024's 1,779 students:

2025
1,721
2027
1,610
2029
1,506

≈ 273 fewer students by 2029 — a real revenue/relevance risk worth getting ahead of.

An extrapolation of the recent trajectory, not a forecast of the school's plans; ignores one-off shocks.

Revenue at risk

At $18,631 per student in district revenue, the 273 students projected to be lost by 2029 represent ≈ $5,086,263/year in funding at risk.

District total revenue ÷ enrollment, NCES F-33. Public funding largely follows enrollment, so a shrinking class is a recurring budget hit.

Most similar nearby high schools

The schools most like this one — same type, blended on distance and size — and where their enrollment is heading. These are the schools families here weigh against each other.

SchoolTypeMilesHS enrollmentTrend
South High Community
Worcester
Public 7.5 1,779 +17.9%
Shrewsbury High School
Shrewsbury
Public 7.5 1,869 +1.9%
Doherty Memorial High
Worcester
Public 6.4 1,565 +18.6%
Worcester Technical High
Worcester
Public 7.2 1,419 -3.9%
North High
Worcester
Public 8.4 1,362 +5.8%
Burncoat Senior High
Worcester
Public 5.8 1,050 -9.9%
Montachusett Regional Vocational Technical
Fitchburg
Public 14.4 1,417 +0.3%
Algonquin Regional High
Northborough
Public 13.5 1,181 -6.0%

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