The top reported proficiency rate is 38% in Math. The lowest is 0% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Donald S Ray School
Donald S Ray School is a middle-grades school serving sixth and seventh graders in Baldwinsville, a mixed-use village northwest of Syracuse. The school is part of the Baldwinsville Central School District, which serves the village and surrounding communities.
The school's academic profile shows proficiency rates in the range of mid-to-upper-50s across tested grades and subjects. In sixth-grade math and English language arts, proficiency rates are roughly even, around the mid-to-upper-50s. Seventh-grade proficiency is similar across both subjects. The school does not test eighth-grade students, as those grades are not part of its current configuration. Testing participation rates are strong, with most grades showing participation in the high-80s to low-90s range.
When compared against districts in Onondaga County, Ray's overall proficiency index places it in the bottom quartile among the county's schools. State testing data was available for this school year; no prior-year trend data was accessible to show trajectory.
The school enrolls a student body that is predominantly white, with a modest share of students from Black, Hispanic, and multiracial backgrounds. About a third of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. Enrollment is split fairly evenly between the two grades served, with a small number of students in ungraded placements.
Ray School sits on Van Buren Road in Baldwinsville, accessible by car within the village. Baldwinsville itself is a walkable, compact community centered on a historic downtown along the Seneca River, roughly a dozen miles northwest of Syracuse. The village mixes early-20th-century housing stock—Cape Cods, bungalows, split-level homes—with newer residential subdivisions and the large planned community of Radisson just east of the village. The Seneca River and associated lock system anchor civic life, with parks, shops, and restaurants supporting a small-town feel despite the village's role as an industrial suburb within the Syracuse metro area.
The district is in the midst of substantial change. In December 2024, voters approved a major capital improvement project, the largest in district history, covering all eight school buildings. This will be phased in starting with tax impacts in 2028. More significantly for Ray's future, the district is reconfiguring grade levels district-wide: Ray School will transition from serving sixth and seventh grades to becoming an intermediate/upper elementary school housing fourth through sixth grade, with seventh grade moving to the main junior-high campus. These transitions are phased beginning in September 2028. The district is also studying a shift in school start and end times for all grades, planned to align with the reconfiguration and driven by research on adolescent sleep and academic outcomes. For families considering the school, these structural changes are a key consideration, as they will alter which building children attend at each stage and when school days begin and end.
The Baldwinsville area is positioned for growth. The planned Micron semiconductor facility in nearby Clay is expected to draw thousands of workers and surge housing demand. New residential developments cluster in subdivisions such as Highland Meadows and Sun Meadows, and Radisson is expanding with new builds and apartments. Housing values in the Baldwinsville zip code have risen year over year, though supply and demand metrics in the broader county market show flux—pending listings are elevated, active new listings have declined, and median days on market remain short. Median rent for the area is moderate.
A parent considering Ray School should be aware that current proficiency results sit below the county median, and may want to look into the school's specific support structures and academic programs more deeply with district staff. The immediate academic context is the school itself; the larger context is a district undergoing major reconfiguration that will reshape the student journey across elementary and middle grades beginning in 2028.
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