Martha Brown Middle School, Fairport NY

Original Research by School Decision on Martha Brown Middle School

Martha Brown Middle School serves the full middle grades—sixth through eighth—in Fairport, a walkable Erie Canal village on the eastern edge of Rochester's suburbs. The school operates as a regular public school within the Fairport Central School District, part of a well-resourced suburban system that recently won voter support for a district-wide modernization project and is undertaking significant structural changes to its high school pathway.

The school's academic performance reflects solid foundational work, particularly in mathematics. Sixth-grade math proficiency reaches into the low-to-mid range, and seventh-grade math is substantially stronger, suggesting students gain momentum through the grades in computational and procedural work. English-language arts proficiency across grades runs narrower than math, with sixth grade in the mid-range and performance dipping noticeably by eighth grade. Eighth-grade science proficiency sits in the mid-range. The school tested nearly the full population in sixth and seventh grade math and ELA, with high participation, though eighth-grade participation drops considerably, especially in science, making those grade-specific conclusions less stable. Overall, Martha Brown's proficiency index positions the school in the top quartile among the county's tested middle schools, a strength that reflects meaningful academic groundwork in the core subjects.

The student body is predominantly white and owner-occupied-family based. A modest share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting the economic stability of the village and surrounding neighborhoods. The school does not report rates for students with IEPs or English learners, so the scope of special populations support is not visible in the data available.

Enrollment is moderate for a suburban middle school, with all three grades represented evenly. The school is neither a magnet nor a charter; it operates as a traditional district school and receives students from the residential catchment area.

Fairport itself is a high-demand housing market with prices appreciating year over year and homes moving briskly. The village has a strong civic identity centered on the canal corridor, parks, and an active downtown. The district is pursuing New York State Downtown Revitalization Initiative funding and is currently undergoing two major changes: a district-wide capital project approved by voters in fall 2025 that will modernize classrooms, HVAC, and safety systems across all K-8 buildings, and a consolidation of ninth grade into Fairport High School beginning in fall 2026, coupled with a shift in school start times districtwide to allow adolescents more sleep. For families with middle schoolers, these changes mean a freshly renovated physical plant on the horizon and a tighter, earlier pathway to high school, where ninth graders will no longer occupy a standalone building.

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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	51	100.0%
Science	51	100.0%

Math

Grade 673%

School 73% · District 70% · ▲ 4 pts above district

▲ 28 pts above state median · ▲ 48 pts above county median

Grade 784%

School 84% · District 82% · ▲ 2 pts above district

▲ 32 pts above state median · ▲ 38 pts above county median

Grade 873%

School 73% · District 78% · ▼ 6 pts below district

▲ 35 pts above state median · ▲ 67 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 669%

School 69% · District 62% · ▲ 7 pts above district

▲ 23 pts above state median · ▲ 41 pts above county median

Grade 769%

School 69% · District 66% · ▲ 3 pts above district

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

Grade 862%

School 62% · District 57% · ▲ 5 pts above district

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

Science

Grade 868%

School 68% · District 64% · ▲ 4 pts above district

▲ 35 pts above state median · ▲ 54 pts above county median

Social studies

Grade 889%

School 89% · district not reported

▲ 11 pts above state median · even with county median

This schoolFAIRPORT 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.

Proficiency by household income

English language arts

Grade 6Lower-income44%Higher-income77%32 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income51%Higher-income75%24 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income35%Higher-income71%36 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 6Lower-income51%Higher-income80%29 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income64%Higher-income90%27 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income52%Higher-income83%31 pp gap