The top reported proficiency rate is 44% in Science. The lowest is 20% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Holley Junior Senior High School
Holley Junior Senior High School sits on the shared PreK-12 campus of Holley Central School District in the small Erie Canal village of Holley, in eastern Orleans County. The campus is in the northeastern part of the village, separate from the downtown Public Square, though publicly reported sources describe the district as the central site of community activity. Grades seven through twelve share one building, so a student who enters seventh grade will finish their senior year in the same place.
Holley itself is a quiet, predominantly residential community, historically an Erie Canal port tied to agriculture and fruit-and-vegetable canning, that has shifted over decades toward a bedroom community within the Rochester metropolitan area. Commercial life in the village is modest: a handful of local shops, a diner, a pizzeria, and a gas station. The Erie Canal trail, Holley Canal Park, and the thirty-five-foot Holley Falls provide outdoor anchors, and the downtown historic district carries a genuine architectural legacy. Major employers within the village are limited; the district itself is among the larger local institutional presences.
The student body is predominantly white, with Hispanic students and multiracial students making up most of the remaining enrollment. Well over half of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which places the school's economic profile toward the higher-need end. IEP and English learner counts were not reported in the data available.
State testing results cover seventh and eighth graders only, as New York does not administer NYSTP assessments to high school grades. Those results are worth attention. In both math and ELA at seventh grade, fewer than a quarter of tested students reached proficiency. Eighth grade ELA was similar, and eighth grade math was lower still. Eighth grade science was noticeably stronger than math or ELA, with roughly four in ten students proficient. Comparing the school's overall proficiency index against other districts in Orleans County, the school falls in the bottom quartile of that six-district county group. Parents who want to understand how the high school grades are performing academically will need to ask the district directly, since no state testing data exists for grades nine through twelve and no AP, dual enrollment, or career pathway program information was available in the data we have. A graduation rate was not reported for this school in the data provided.
Families weighing this school should be aware that two voter-approved capital projects are reshaping the campus. A major project approved in late 2022 completed construction through fall 2025, adding secure entrances at both school buildings, a new STEM classroom at the elementary school, renovated music rooms, and athletics upgrades including a resurfaced track and new lighting. A second project passed by voters in early 2026, covering auditorium improvements, additional safety and technology upgrades, and infrastructure work, was described publicly as fully covered by New York State building aid and existing reserves with no added local tax impact. The auditorium stage had not received a major update in many decades, according to public reporting. These investments represent a meaningful commitment to the physical environment, though they say nothing directly about academic programming.
On the housing side, the local market sits well below both the New York State and national medians, making the area among the more affordable entry points in the region. Home values have appreciated noticeably over the past year, though the market remains accessible relative to broader benchmarks. There is no rental index available for the immediate area. Holley's population has been roughly flat to slightly declining, and the village's development activity has concentrated on downtown revitalization and remediation of the former Diaz Chemical Superfund site rather than new residential construction. Growth here is consolidation and recovery, not expansion.
For a family weighing where to land in the Rochester metro's western reach, the practical picture is affordable housing, a small single-campus school with a visible facilities investment underway, and academic proficiency numbers in the tested middle grades that are low enough to warrant a direct conversation with the school about supports, intervention programs, and how students are prepared for the high school years.
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