Aaron Mossell Junior High School, Lockport NY

Original Research by School Decision on Aaron Mossell Junior High School

Aaron Mossell Junior High School in Lockport serves seventh and eighth grade students in this mid-sized city on the Erie Canal. The school has a fairly even split between its two grades, with the enrollment drawn primarily from Lockport's residential neighborhoods. Nearly seven in ten students at Aaron Mossell qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, and the student body is predominantly white, with smaller shares of students who are Hispanic, Black, or multiracial.

The school's most recent state test results show proficiency rates that sit below the midpoint across the county's middle schools. In seventh-grade English Language Arts, less than half of tested students scored at proficiency; in eighth-grade English, the rate is somewhat stronger, reaching near mid-range performance. Math proficiency in seventh grade is in the low-to-mid range; eighth-grade math is comparable. Eighth-grade science proficiency falls in the low-to-mid range as well. Participation rates are high in English Language Arts, particularly in grades seven and eight, and reasonably strong in math and science, though the eighth-grade science participation is notably lower. Data for sixth grade is not available; the school serves only grades seven and eight.

When Aaron Mossell's proficiency index is compared with other districts across Niagara County, the school falls in the bottom quartile. This positioning may warrant a conversation with school leadership about current instructional approaches and any efforts to raise achievement in coming years.

Lockport as a community is in transition. The city has long centered on its historic Erie Canal locks and pre-automobile downtown of attached brick commercial and residential buildings. It is now experiencing public investment through New York's Downtown Revitalization Initiative, with projects underway to restore the Palace Theatre, convert historic mill and commercial buildings to mixed-use residential and commercial space, and revitalize the downtown corridor. Median home values in the area are modest relative to the state, making it an affordable housing market, though rents have risen modestly in recent months.

The Lockport City School District itself has made several recent shifts relevant to families. Most notably, the state banned facial recognition technology in schools in 2023, which directly affected Lockport, the only public district in New York that had deployed such a system for school security. Beginning in the 2025-26 school year, the district is bringing special education students back from outside placements like BOCES into district buildings, adding instructional positions to restore in-house special education classes. The district also placed a capital improvement project before voters in May 2026 that would relocate the Universal Pre-Kindergarten program into a new addition at an elementary school. These shifts speak to a district actively reshaping how it delivers services.

For families considering Aaron Mossell, the school offers a neighborhood junior high experience in a community with modest cost of living. The proficiency data suggests students may benefit from careful review of what support systems exist for students working below grade level, and whether any specialized programming or tutoring is in place. A conversation with the building principal about the school's academic priorities and any recent changes would help frame what families can expect.

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Academic performance

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

Advanced Placement & IB

2 subjects offered · 2023-24

Each card is one AP or IB subject. The headline number is the share of students scoring 3 or higher on the exam — the threshold for college credit at most universities. The bar below each rate shows the underlying distribution across performance levels.

Score:12· no credit345· extremely well qualified

History and Social Sciences

U.S. History

1 tested · HS

0.0%

scored 3 or higher

Other

Language and Comp

1 tested · HS

0.0%

scored 3 or higher

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	75	88.0%
Science	7	57.0%

Math

Grade 60%

School 0% · District 41% · ▼ 40 pts below district

▼ 45 pts below state median · ▼ 42 pts below county median

Grade 742%

School 42% · District 42%

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

Grade 837%

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

even with state median · ▲ 7 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 60%

School 0% · District 40% · ▼ 40 pts below district

▼ 46 pts below state median · ▼ 39 pts below county median

Grade 736%

School 36% · District 35%

▼ 12 pts below state median · even with county median

Grade 846%

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

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

Science

Grade 842%

School 42% · District 42% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▲ 9 pts above state median · ▲ 2 pts above county median

Social studies

Grade 517%

School 17% · district not reported

▼ 75 pts below state median · ▼ 78 pts below county median

Grade 888%

School 88% · district not reported

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

This schoolLOCKPORT 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 6Lower-income44%Higher-income70%27 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income31%Higher-income45%15 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income35%Higher-income66%31 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 6Lower-income37%Higher-income57%21 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income34%Higher-income56%22 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income31%Higher-income54%24 pp gap