The top reported proficiency rate is 45% in Science. The lowest is 26% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Cony
Cony is the public high school serving Augusta, Maine's capital city, as part of Augusta Public Schools. It serves grades nine through twelve and draws from a community defined by state government, health care, retail, and the University of Maine at Augusta. The school's enrollment is moderate for a Maine high school, with roughly equal distribution across the four grade levels. The student body is predominantly white, with small representations of Hispanic, multiracial, Asian, Black, and Native American students. About a third of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which is a moderate level for the area. The school is not a charter or magnet school. Data on individualized education programs and English learner status was not available, so those population details are absent here.
State assessment results from the eMPowerME and Maine Educational Assessment, reported for all students, show a mixed academic picture. In English language arts, proficiency falls in the moderate range, with a solid portion of tested students meeting or exceeding standards. Science proficiency is similar, sitting at a comparable moderate level. Math is the weakest area, with only a quarter of tested students reaching proficiency. Participation was high in both math and ELA, and slightly lower in science. These are single-year results without trend data, so it is not possible to say whether performance is improving or declining. A parent concerned about math outcomes may want to look into this further with the school, particularly what supports and interventions are in place for students who are below grade level.
No graduation rate was provided in the available data, which limits the ability to characterize how well Cony moves students through to completion. Program offerings such as Advanced Placement, dual-enrollment, career and technical pathways, or extracurricular activities were not included in the data set, so this account cannot speak to the breadth of academic options beyond the core curriculum. Staffing, discipline, attendance, and course-access information were also absent. These gaps mean the portrait of Cony is partial, focused on who attends and how they perform on state tests, without the fuller context of programs and school climate.
The surrounding community shapes what families experience. Augusta sits along the Kennebec River, with a downtown core anchored by the Maine State House, Old Fort Western, and historic commercial buildings on Water Street. The city is auto-oriented overall, with Interstate 95 passing the western outskirts and residential neighborhoods dispersed across a large geographic area. The Kennebec River Rail Trail offers a pedestrian and bicycle corridor along the river, and Viles Arboretum provides outdoor recreation space. Walkability outside the immediate downtown is limited, so most daily errands require a car. State government is the dominant employer, with health care, education, and retail also contributing substantially to employment. The University of Maine at Augusta adds an educational presence, and the Togus VA Medical Center near Augusta is a major regional health care employer.
The housing market in Cony's zip code is relatively affordable compared with state and national benchmarks. Home values sit below both the Maine statewide typical home value and the national figure, and the price-to-income ratio suggests housing costs are manageable relative to local earnings. Rents have been rising at a faster pace than home values recently, which affects families who rent. The area has seen a modest decline in home values year over year, while the broader state market has ticked upward slightly. For families considering buying, the mortgage costs are in line with the area's income levels, and renting takes up a modest share of household income.
At the district level, Augusta Public Schools had a notable 2024. Voters were asked three times, in June and twice in November, to approve consolidating the district's four elementary schools into two buildings. The question failed all three times, preserving the current neighborhood elementary school structure. This outcome affects family experience in the district by maintaining existing school assignments, class configurations, transportation patterns, and community identity tied to each building. The school budget passed in the June 2024 vote, ensuring continued funding for district operations. These district dynamics sit upstream of Cony, shaping the students who arrive at ninth grade and the resources available across the system.
For a family weighing Cony, the available evidence points to a traditional public high school in a small capital city with moderate academic results, a clear weakness in math, and a stable but aging community with affordable housing. The missing pieces on graduation rates, program offerings, and school climate mean a visit and direct questions to the school would be an important next step. What the data does show is a school serving a predominantly white, moderate-income student body in a city where public administration and health care anchor the local economy and where the district has recently reaffirmed its neighborhood school structure through repeated votes.
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