21 Barbara Rd
Waltham, MA 02453

My son graduated from Fitzgerald in 2023 after being there from K-5. The building is bright and modern. The teachers were very nice and seemed engaged. The principal knew the students by name and greeted students at the entrance to the school almost every day along with other staff. The school activities such as Halloween or Valentine's Day events were well attended by the community and the PTO worked hard to make this a family place. As a part of the Warrendale community I couldn't have asked for much more. My son has good memories of the place and made good friends so that counts for something.As far as education is concerned, I rate it maybe slightly above average. Some of this may be due to the state requirements, but my student wasn't very challenged through much of his time there. From grades 2-4 the teachers seemed to have got together to decide there would be no homework. It seemed like the brighter students were only pushed when attending a special challenge class. We remain in the Waltham Public School system and in middle school there still seems to be a lack of challenge so I'm realizing Fitzgerald is probably no worse than any other school in this system.

The administration at McDevitt Middle School in Waltham is atrocious. We are so grateful this is our youngest child’s last year here. Our older student is thriving at the new Waltham High School. Although there are a few wonderful teachers at McDevitt who we will miss, many do students a disservice with lazy teaching practices and apathetic attitudes. The administration shoves important matters under the rug, while simultaneously overreacting to smaller issues. My older son, who felt targeted by admin at McDevitt, is thriving in honors and AP classes at the new high school, building relationships with teachers and staff, and has a supportive group of friends invested in education. We are grateful to leave McDevitt, the administrators there, and the unsupportive environment behind.

The new building opened in august 2024 and it has been a great experience in the extensive CTVE offerings. Students are engaged and motivated to attend classes. For the most part, school is everything you expect in an American high school. The AP teachers are wonderful and the early scholar's program with metro west are hands down the best learning opportunities. There are numerous clubs and sports for students to participate if they wish to. The equity score on this site is concerning, but to be expected as our school has many first-generation students with limited and interrupted schooling that can't just equally perform during 'common assessments testing'. Waltham high school produces graduates ready to excel to the level they pursue. We know various Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Umass, NYU, Northeastern, BC, Brandeis, Bentley bound youth- a few sports scholars, and some who go to the trade schools. When you visit the school you get a sense of a mini college campus, with the project-based learning focus, the breakout student spaces offer useful collaborative-social areas. The school can improve as it finds all its potential integrating more corporate community partnerships.