Pierre Van Cortlandt School, Croton on Hudson NY

Original Research by School Decision on Pierre Van Cortlandt School

Pierre Van Cortlandt School is a public middle school serving grades five through eight in Croton-on-Hudson, a walkable riverfront village in Westchester County about one metro-north station ride north of New York City. The school enrolls roughly four hundred seventy students and sits on a dedicated campus rather than within the village commercial downtown, though it is part of the Croton-Harmon district fabric and accessible by village streets.

The school's academic profile shows consistent, solid proficiency across tested subjects. In mathematics, proficiency runs in the low to mid-seventies across all four grade levels, with seventh grade slightly higher. English language arts proficiency follows a similar band, except for seventh grade, where it reaches the low eighties, a notably stronger result than the other grades. Science proficiency is reported only for grade five, at roughly two-thirds, and grade eight science testing data was not available. The school's overall proficiency index across tested subjects and grades places it above the midpoint among the county's districts.

The student body is predominantly white, with Hispanic students making up a meaningful minority, and small Asian and multiracial populations. About one in seven students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, suggesting a solidly middle-income school community overall. The school draws from the village and surrounding areas of the district.

Croton-on-Hudson itself is in motion. The village has established itself as a pro-housing community and is pursuing transit-oriented multifamily housing near the Croton-Harmon train station, with recent completions and several proposals underway for condominium and affordable units. Housing values in the zip code have appreciated modestly year-over-year, and median listing prices sit well above state and national benchmarks. The village is defined by walkable downtown streets, riverfront parks, strong public library programming, and direct Metro-North access to Manhattan.

The district has been investing notably in its facilities. Voters approved a major capital project referendum in December 2022 that covers renovations to all three school buildings, including security upgrades, ventilation, roof work for solar readiness, and electric-bus infrastructure, with construction underway through 2025-26. The district is explicitly building its educational approach around what it calls "What Schools Can Be"—a pedagogical framework emphasizing learning fueled by student interests and passions, and innovation across all three schools. This shapes the instructional culture and the way families should think about what kinds of learning experiences the district prioritizes.

For a family considering Pierre Van Cortlandt, the core picture is a middle school with solid, consistent academic results in a village setting with real amenities, active growth in the housing stock, and a district system oriented toward student-centered learning and major facility renewal underway. A parent may want to look into the school's specific program offerings, any advanced or accelerated pathways available, and how the "What Schools Can Be" approach plays out in day-to-day classroom life. State testing data for eighth-grade science was not reported, so a parent curious about science instruction at that level may want to ask the school directly about how science is taught and assessed.

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Academic performance

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

New York Regents Exams

1 course 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	82	99.0%

Math

Grade 573%

School 73% · District 73%

▲ 22 pts above state median · ▲ 14 pts above county median

Grade 675%

School 75% · District 75%

▲ 30 pts above state median · ▲ 24 pts above county median

Grade 775%

School 75% · District 75% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▲ 23 pts above state median · ▲ 21 pts above county median

Grade 872%

School 72% · District 72%

▲ 35 pts above state median · ▲ 33 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 573%

School 73% · District 73%

▲ 19 pts above state median · ▲ 8 pts above county median

Grade 674%

School 74% · District 74%

▲ 28 pts above state median · ▲ 26 pts above county median

Grade 784%

School 84% · District 83% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▲ 36 pts above state median · ▲ 31 pts above county median

Grade 876%

School 76% · District 76%

▲ 28 pts above state median · ▲ 23 pts above county median

Science

Grade 568%

School 68% · District 68%

▲ 27 pts above state median · ▲ 20 pts above county median

Grade 80%

School 0% · District 0%

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

Social studies

Grade 597%

School 97% · district not reported

▲ 5 pts above state median · ▲ 1 pts above county median

Grade 898%

School 98% · district not reported

▲ 20 pts above state median · ▲ 9 pts above county median

This schoolCROTON-HARMON UNION FREE 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-income36%Higher-income79%43 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income29%Higher-income81%52 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income27%Higher-income92%65 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income53%Higher-income81%29 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 5Lower-income29%Higher-income80%51 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income29%Higher-income82%53 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income21%Higher-income83%62 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income47%Higher-income77%30 pp gap