School Demographic

Chocksett Middle School is located in Sterling, MA which is about 15 minutes outside of Worcester. It is part of the Wachusett Regional School district which comprises 5 towns: Holden, Sterling, Princeton, Paxton, and Rutland. Having grades 5-8, Chocksett falls in the mid-size range in the district having a total enrollment of about 290 students, about 80 of which are in the seventh grade. Almost 90% of the student body is white, 8% is African American and the following 2% is broken into small percentages of other minority groups. The student-to-teacher ratio is 11.8:1 which is very close to the state average of 11.9:1 however, it is much lower than the district ratio which is 14.1:1 due to the single large regional high school. A majority of the teachers in the school are 41-48 but the age ranges anywhere from 26-64. A large majority of the teachers are white with only one Hispanic teacher, and all are mostly female.

In my first month at Chocksett, I noticed that Sterling is a fairly homogenous community. A majority of the students come from white middle/upper-middle-class families who are all very involved in their child's education. The community is very tight-knit, taking pride in the middle school sporting events, drama club, community theater, and town events such as the town fair. The students also part take field trips throughout the year that further their learning such as Nature's Classroom, and a trip to the Hanover theatre to watch "A Christmas Carol".