J Watson Bailey Middle School, Kingston NY

Original Research by School Decision on J Watson Bailey Middle School

J Watson Bailey Middle School is a public middle school in Kingston, New York, serving students in grades 5 through 8. The school has a student body approaching a thousand, spread fairly evenly across its four grade levels. About half the enrollment qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, and the student composition is mostly white, with substantial shares of Hispanic students and smaller populations of students identifying as Black, Asian, or multiracial.

The school sits within Kingston City School District, a small urban district in Ulster County in the Hudson Valley. Kingston is a historic port city and county seat, with health care and education as leading employment sectors. Housing values in the area are moderate relative to the state, and rents have risen notably in recent years. The district recently passed a major capital improvement referendum focused on air-conditioning, ventilation, and building upgrades across most schools, a multi-year reinvestment now underway. At the elementary level, the district has fully adopted a Science of Reading-aligned literacy program across all K-5 classrooms.

On state testing, Bailey's results show uneven performance across grades and subjects. In English Language Arts, the school's sixth-graders posted the strongest showing, with a substantial share meeting proficiency. Eighth-graders also performed reasonably well in ELA. Fifth- and seventh-graders trailed; seventh-grade ELA performance was notably lower. In mathematics, seventh-graders showed the strongest results, with roughly two-fifths meeting proficiency. Fifth and sixth graders also performed in that same ballpark. Eighth-grade math proficiency dipped considerably. Science proficiency was mixed: fifth-graders scored in the low thirties, while eighth-graders reached the low forties. Across subjects and grades, the school's overall proficiency index places it in the bottom quartile among district peers in Ulster County. A parent may want to look into this further with the school to understand what academic supports are in place and what trajectory the school is targeting.

One data note: participation rates varied notably year to year and by grade. Eighth-grade math participation was notably low, which can affect how representative those results are of the full cohort. ELA participation was generally stronger. This variation is worth exploring with the school when reviewing results.

The school building itself is located on Merilina Avenue in the city's residential core. No information on specialized academic programs, course offerings, staffing, attendance, or discipline was available from the data provided, so a parent interested in those details should contact the school or district directly. The school is a regular public school with no charter or magnet designation.

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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	54	94.0%
Science	27	89.0%

Math

Grade 40%

School 0% · District 34% · ▼ 34 pts below district

▼ 58 pts below state median · ▼ 52 pts below county median

Grade 530%

School 30% · District 19% · ▲ 11 pts above district

▼ 21 pts below state median · ▼ 12 pts below county median

Grade 637%

School 37% · District 34% · ▲ 3 pts above district

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

Grade 744%

School 44% · District 36% · ▲ 8 pts above district

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

Grade 825%

School 25% · District 15% · ▲ 10 pts above district

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

English language arts

Grade 40%

School 0% · District 37% · ▼ 37 pts below district

▼ 53 pts below state median · ▼ 47 pts below county median

Grade 541%

School 41% · District 34% · ▲ 7 pts above district

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

Grade 648%

School 48% · District 42% · ▲ 6 pts above district

▲ 2 pts above state median · ▼ 2 pts below county median

Grade 734%

School 34% · District 31% · ▲ 3 pts above district

▼ 13 pts below state median · ▼ 11 pts below county median

Grade 853%

School 53% · District 40% · ▲ 13 pts above district

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

Science

Grade 530%

School 30% · District 26% · ▲ 4 pts above district

▼ 12 pts below state median · ▼ 14 pts below county median

Grade 841%

School 41% · District 29% · ▲ 12 pts above district

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

Social studies

Grade 869%

School 69% · district not reported

▼ 9 pts below state median

This schoolKINGSTON 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 5Lower-income24%Higher-income59%35 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income37%Higher-income59%22 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income18%Higher-income50%32 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income40%Higher-income63%22 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 5Lower-income16%Higher-income40%24 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income29%Higher-income44%16 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income31%Higher-income56%25 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income15%Higher-income38%24 pp gap