Ballston Spa Senior High School, Ballston Spa NY

Original Research by School Decision on Ballston Spa Senior High School

Ballston Spa Senior High School is a regular public high school serving grades nine through twelve in a mid-sized school enrollment, with the four grades distributed across a standard range. State assessment data for the school was not available, so we cannot speak to proficiency levels or trends from standardized testing. The school sits on a shared campus with the district's middle school on Ballston Avenue, outside the downtown core in a suburban setting.

The school's student body is predominantly white, with smaller shares of Hispanic, multiracial, and Asian students, and very small numbers of Black and Native American students. About a third of the school's enrollment qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating a mixed economic profile within the catchment. Data on special education enrollment and English learner populations was not provided.

The school serves a geographically large district that spans portions of four towns plus the village of Ballston Spa itself. The surrounding area is a small historic county seat with a walkable downtown core, but the school draws students from a sprawling suburban catchment across Saratoga County. The town and district are on a growth trajectory, with significant new residential development planned and underway, driven partly by the presence of GlobalFoundries, a major semiconductor manufacturer in nearby Malta. This growth is reshaping the housing market and local tax base, a consideration families should understand when thinking about the school's funding outlook.

The district recently ended its International Baccalaureate program at the high school, a pathway that had been offered for years. Families who valued that curriculum option should be aware of this change. The district faces a multi-year revenue squeeze from declining PILOT payments from GlobalFoundries, which has already begun to pressure school budgets and will continue to do so. Tax levies have risen, and the district has managed recent shortfalls through fund-balance draws and retirement-based staffing reductions rather than layoffs. The district passed a major capital referendum in late 2025, with construction running through the next several years; this will modernize buildings and sports facilities but will also mean ongoing tax payments to cover the project costs.

When compared to other districts in Saratoga County, data shows the school's proficiency index at the bottom quartile, a metric that reflects overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades in that county peer group. Graduation rate and chronic absenteeism data were not available for this school, so you would want to ask the school directly about those outcomes. A parent may want to look into the school's current course offerings, AP options, career and technical pathways, and post-secondary placement data directly with the school or district to get a fuller picture of academic opportunity and where students go after graduation.

The housing market near the school is appreciating, with median home values well above both state and national benchmarks, and rental costs rising as well. The area reads as an appealing small-town alternative to nearby Saratoga Springs for families seeking a walkable village center with local character while remaining in a suburban school district.

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Academic performance

State test results and graduation outcomes.

Graduation rate (ACGR)

91.0%Cohort of 307 students · Class of 2021

How this school compares to all schools in this state

Each dot is one school’s SY 2020-21 graduation rate, binned by integer rate. Taller columns mean more schools at that rate. This school is highlighted.

1,253 schools plotted. 14 additional schools' rates are federally suppressed and not shown. Data: EDFacts SY 2020-21.

Advanced Placement & IB

21 subjects offered · 2023-24

Each card is one AP or IB subject. The headline number is the share of students scoring 3 or higher on the exam — the threshold for college credit at most universities. The bar below each rate shows the underlying distribution across performance levels.

Score:12· no credit345· extremely well qualified

Math and Computer Science

Calculus AB

39 tested

64.1%

scored 3 or higher

Calculus BC

11 tested

100.0%

scored 3 or higher

Computer Science Principles

9 tested · Grade 9, Grade 10

0.0%

scored 3 or higher

Statistics

28 tested

78.6%

scored 3 or higher

Sciences

Biology

40 tested

87.5%

scored 3 or higher

Chemistry

18 tested

100.0%

scored 3 or higher

Physics 1

36 tested

86.1%

scored 3 or higher

History and Social Sciences

Human Geography

26 tested · Grade 9

100.0%

scored 3 or higher

Macroeconomics

9 tested

100.0%

scored 3 or higher

U.S. History

34 tested

94.1%

scored 3 or higher

Arts

Studio Art Drawing

2 tested

0.0%

scored 3 or higher

International Baccalaureate

Ib Biology SL

9 tested

55.6%

scored 3 or higher

Ib Film HL

2 tested

0.0%

scored 3 or higher

Ib History Hl History of the Americas

45 tested

84.4%

scored 3 or higher

Ib Language a Language and Literature English HL

6 tested

83.3%

scored 3 or higher

Ib Mathematics Applications and Interpretation SL

5 tested

0.0%

scored 3 or higher

Ib Psychology HL

9 tested

66.7%

scored 3 or higher

Other

Language and Comp

55 tested

56.4%

scored 3 or higher

Literature and Comp

32 tested

96.9%

scored 3 or higher

Studio Art 2d Design

5 tested

80.0%

scored 3 or higher

U S Government and Politics

23 tested

91.3%

scored 3 or higher

New York Regents Exams

4 courses reported · 2024-25

End-of-course exams required for a New York Regents diploma. Each row shows the cohort size and the share of students scoring at the proficient level or higher.

Course	Students tested	% proficient
Social Studies	306	77.0%
Ela	294	82.0%
Science	176	86.0%
Math	129	90.0%

Math

Grade 80%

School 0% · District 74% · ▼ 74 pts below district

▼ 37 pts below state median · ▼ 70 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 80%

School 0% · District 64% · ▼ 64 pts below district

▼ 48 pts below state median · ▼ 50 pts below county median

Science

Grade 80%

School 0% · District 69% · ▼ 69 pts below district

▼ 33 pts below state median · ▼ 59 pts below county median

This schoolBALLSTON SPA CENTRAL SCHOOL DISTRICT, same grade

Graduation rate (ACGR) reflects the federally published Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate for the most recent year available. We refresh this data annually at the close of each academic year in June. The federal source publishes a banded rate (for example, "90-94%") instead of an exact number for cohorts small enough to risk identifying individual students. The state distribution chart, where shown, plots every school in the state with a published rate or band; schools whose rate is federally suppressed are excluded. Where the federal source publishes a band rather than an exact rate, the school is placed within its band using a stable, ID-derived offset, so its position is consistent across visits.