Batavia Middle School, Batavia NY

Original Research by School Decision on Batavia Middle School

Batavia Middle School serves grades five through eight in the city of Batavia, which sits as the county seat of Genesee County between Buffalo and Rochester. The school draws from a city that is actively reorienting its downtown and has seen significant recent housing development, including new affordable units. The broader Batavia City School District is undergoing substantial facilities and grade-configuration changes as part of a voter-approved capital project, which will reshape how students move through the district's buildings over the next few years.

The school's academic picture shows mixed proficiency across tested subjects and grades. In mathematics, results vary by grade level: fifth and sixth graders show the strongest performance, while seventh and eighth grade math proficiency drops meaningfully, particularly in eighth grade where fewer than one in four students tested met proficiency benchmarks. English language arts follows a similar pattern, with fifth and sixth graders performing near or above the fifty percent mark and seventh and eighth graders falling below that. Science proficiency in fifth grade is notably lower than in eighth grade, suggesting that performance fluctuates across the grade span. The school's overall proficiency index sits below the midpoint among Genesee County districts, reflecting these pressures in upper grades.

A parent evaluating this school may want to look into what support structures are in place for seventh and eighth graders, particularly in math, where the decline is steep. The school's data does not yet show results from the grade-level reconfiguration mentioned in district plans, where fifth grade will move to John Kennedy Intermediate School beginning in the 2026-27 school year, turning Batavia Middle into a true grades-six-through-eight school. That restructuring may affect the peer composition and instructional focus of the building going forward.

The student population is stable in enrollment and reflects the city's demographic composition: roughly two-thirds white, with meaningful representation of Black students and Hispanic students each comprising a notable share. A substantial majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating significant economic need in the school's community. The school does not report special education enrollment or English learner counts; whether these data gaps reflect actual absence or simply are not publicly available in this format would be worth clarifying directly with the district.

Batavia is a mixed-use city with modest housing values. The downtown has a walkable commercial core centered on Main Street, and the city is actively building affordable housing as part of its Downtown Revitalization Initiative. The middle school campus is located on Ross Street, removed from the commercial downtown but within the city proper. The district maintains athletic fields and substantial grounds, reflecting a traditional campus approach rather than an urban in-neighborhood site.

The district is in the midst of significant change. The capital project, approved by voters in December 2023 with no net tax increase to households, includes security upgrades, auditorium renovation, and athletic field improvements. Robert Morris School was reopened in 2022 as an early childhood hub offering Universal Pre-K and preschool, and the district now provides multiple free full-day and half-day UPK options. All students in the district receive free lunch through the Community Eligibility Program, which was extended through the 2025-26 school year. These are meaningful quality-of-life supports for families managing affordability.

The grade reconfiguration will move fifth grade out of Batavia Middle School and into John Kennedy, yielding a smaller, more age-coherent middle school serving only grades six through eight. That transition is still ahead, but families with younger children should understand that the school's current structure is temporary and will change in the 2026-27 school year.

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Academic performance

How students perform on state tests, by grade, set against the district.

New York Regents Exams

2 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
Math	35	97.0%
Science	35	100.0%

Math

Grade 550%

School 50% · District 50%

▼ 1 pts below state median

Grade 657%

School 57% · District 57%

▲ 12 pts above state median

Grade 742%

School 42% · District 42%

▼ 11 pts below state median

Grade 823%

School 23% · District 23%

▼ 14 pts below state median

English language arts

Grade 547%

School 47% · District 46%

▼ 8 pts below state median

Grade 652%

School 52% · District 51%

▲ 6 pts above state median

Grade 739%

School 39% · District 39% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▼ 8 pts below state median

Grade 832%

School 32% · District 31%

▼ 17 pts below state median

Science

Grade 535%

School 35% · District 34%

▼ 7 pts below state median

Grade 843%

School 43% · District 43% · ▼ 1 pts below district

▲ 9 pts above state median

Social studies

Grade 876%

School 76% · district not reported

▼ 2 pts below state median

This schoolBATAVIA CITY 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.

Proficiency by household income

English language arts

Grade 5Lower-income35%Higher-income67%31 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income41%Higher-income67%27 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income35%Higher-income47%12 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income26%Higher-income38%12 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 5Lower-income33%Higher-income78%45 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income48%Higher-income69%21 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income31%Higher-income61%30 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income22%Higher-income25%3 pp gap