Rombout Middle School, Beacon NY

Original Research by School Decision on Rombout Middle School

Rombout Middle School serves the middle grades in Beacon, a small Hudson River city that has transformed itself from a post-industrial manufacturing town into an arts-oriented community. The school enrolls a broad cross-section of students: roughly half qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, and the student body is ethnically mixed, with White, Hispanic, and Black students each representing a substantial share, along with students of Asian descent and two or more races.

Academic results here show a pattern worth understanding clearly. In English language arts across grades six through eight, proficiency hovers around a consistent band, with roughly two in five students meeting state standards in each grade. Math performance is weaker and narrows sharply by grade eight, where proficiency drops to single digits. In eighth-grade science, roughly a third of students tested reached proficiency. These results place Rombout near the bottom of its county peer group when proficiency is averaged across all tested subjects and grades. The school's participation rates in testing are uneven, particularly in eighth-grade math and science, which a parent may want to ask the school about directly.

The school sits on Matteawan Road, separated from Beacon's walkable downtown core where most civic and cultural anchors lie. It is part of the Beacon City School District, which serves the city and portions of neighboring towns through four elementary schools, this middle school, and a high school. The district is in the midst of a sustained investment cycle. Voters approved a substantial capital project in 2024 that will bring secure entrances, athletic field upgrades, and air conditioning to classrooms across all district buildings over the next few summers. This is the district's first such project in well over a decade to raise property taxes, so families considering the area should expect a modest, recurring tax impact through the bond maturity period.

The district has also prioritized literacy instruction, shifting toward science-of-reading pedagogy with dedicated teacher professional development and parent resources. For elementary families, this represents a deliberate instructional choice worth exploring with the school.

Beacon itself is experiencing steady growth anchored by Main Street redevelopment and conversion of former mill buildings into residential and commercial space. Housing values in the area are moderate to mid-range compared to the broader region and state, with rents rising somewhat faster than home prices in recent years. Metro-North rail service connects Beacon to Manhattan, and a free local bus loop serves downtown. The arts economy, anchored by the Dia Museum and independent shops and restaurants, gives the city a distinct character, though the broader job market remains anchored by regional institutions outside the city itself.

The middle school, then, offers access to a district actively improving its facilities and curriculum while serving a diverse, economically mixed student population in a small city with genuine walkability and cultural life. Current academic performance is below county averages and would warrant a closer conversation with school staff about instructional support and student outcomes before enrollment.

See more original research from School Decision →

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
Science	68	97.0%
Math	61	100.0%

Math

Grade 632%

School 32% · District 32%

▼ 13 pts below state median · ▼ 25 pts below county median

Grade 735%

School 35% · District 35%

▼ 18 pts below state median · ▼ 16 pts below county median

Grade 87%

School 7% · District 7%

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

English language arts

Grade 643%

School 43% · District 43%

▼ 2 pts below state median · ▼ 19 pts below county median

Grade 743%

School 43% · District 43%

▼ 5 pts below state median · ▼ 4 pts below county median

Grade 842%

School 42% · District 42%

▼ 6 pts below state median · ▼ 4 pts below county median

Science

Grade 837%

School 37% · District 37%

▲ 3 pts above state median · even with county median

Social studies

Grade 880%

School 80% · district not reported

▲ 1 pts above state median · ▼ 6 pts below county median

This schoolBEACON 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 6Lower-income36%Higher-income49%14 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income20%Higher-income60%40 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income35%Higher-income47%12 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 6Lower-income27%Higher-income37%10 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income18%Higher-income49%31 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income11%Higher-income3%8 pp gap