Holland Patent Middle School, Holland Patent NY

Original Research by School Decision on Holland Patent Middle School

Holland Patent Middle School serves grades six through eight in a small rural village in Oneida County. The school draws students from a wide multi-town service area and enrolls roughly two-thirds the typical middle school size. The enrollment is entirely white, and about two-fifths of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting a working-and-middle-class community with modest economic diversity.

The school's academic performance sits below the midpoint among Oneida County districts when proficiency rates across tested subjects are averaged together. In English language arts, sixth graders show the strongest results, with about three in five demonstrating proficiency. Performance drops considerably in seventh grade ELA, where the proficiency rate falls to roughly one in three, then recovers somewhat in eighth grade. Mathematics proficiency is lower and more consistent across grades: between two in five and roughly one in two students meet the proficiency standard in grades six and seven, declining further in eighth grade, where the participation rate also dips notably. Eighth-grade science proficiency sits near two in five. A parent reviewing these numbers may want to talk directly with the school about how it supports students who do not yet meet proficiency, what interventions are in place, and whether there are strong patterns in particular grade transitions or subject areas.

The school operates within the Holland Patent Central School District, a small district serving seven towns across Oneida and Herkimer counties. The district is rural and established rather than growing. The community's population has declined steadily over recent decades, and the median age runs higher than typical. Most residents own their homes and commute to larger employment centers nearby. The village of Holland Patent itself sits around ten miles northwest of Utica and functions as a bedroom community with a small historic downtown centered on Main Street and a public square on the National Register.

In May 2026, voters approved a substantial capital improvement project to update school facilities and infrastructure across the district. In 2023, an earlier referendum funded a new multipurpose turf field with lights and a scoreboard at the high school, along with additions to tennis courts and interior renovations at the middle school and elementary school. These are tangible investments families can see when visiting.

The median home value in the 13354 zip code that covers Holland Patent is below the New York state median, and monthly mortgage costs are moderate relative to area incomes. The housing market is stable rather than rapidly appreciating. For families seeking an affordable small-town setting with a rural character and established school facilities, Holland Patent offers that context. The academic performance data suggests parents should have direct conversations with the school about instructional approaches, especially in mathematics and around the seventh-grade ELA transition, to understand how the school responds to students working toward proficiency.

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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	20	100.0%
Science	20	100.0%

Math

Grade 648%

School 48% · District 48%

▲ 3 pts above state median · even with county median

Grade 746%

School 46% · District 45% · ▲ 1 pts above district

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

Grade 841%

School 41% · District 40% · ▲ 1 pts above district

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

English language arts

Grade 658%

School 58% · District 58%

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

Grade 737%

School 37% · District 36% · ▲ 1 pts above district

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

Grade 854%

School 54% · District 53% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▲ 5 pts above state median · even with county median

Science

Grade 839%

School 39% · District 38% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▲ 6 pts above state median · ▼ 3 pts below county median

Social studies

Grade 892%

School 92% · district not reported

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

This schoolHOLLAND PATENT 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-income48%Higher-income65%17 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income21%Higher-income48%26 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income35%Higher-income63%28 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 6Lower-income39%Higher-income54%15 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income43%Higher-income49%6 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income22%Higher-income52%29 pp gap