Westlake Middle School, Thornwood NY

Original Research by School Decision on Westlake Middle School

Westlake Middle School serves grades six through eight in Thornwood, an unincorporated residential hamlet in central Westchester County. The school sits on a shared campus with Westlake High School and the Mount Pleasant Central School District office. Its enrollment runs at a steady mid-range level for a suburban middle school, with a student body that is predominantly white, supplemented by Hispanic, Asian, and multiracial students; a relatively small share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, suggesting a broad middle-class catchment.

The school's state test results show clear strengths in grades six and seven but a significant drop in grade eight. In sixth-grade math and ELA, performance is solid, with majorities of students reaching proficiency. Seventh-grade math holds steady, though seventh-grade ELA declines noticeably. The sharp break comes in eighth grade, where math proficiency falls to a low single-digit range, and science proficiency sits below half. The eighth-grade math participation rate is also substantially lower than in grades six and seven, suggesting that some eighth graders may be placed outside the standard assessment track, either in accelerated pathways or alternative placements. This pattern is worth exploring directly with the school: parents may want to ask whether high-performing eighth graders advance to algebra or high school math, and whether the tested cohort reflects the full eighth-grade population or a subset. Science testing data exist only for eighth grade, limiting visibility into science instruction across the school.

Against other districts in Westchester County, Westlake's overall proficiency index sits below the county midpoint. The school's strongest performance is in sixth-grade ELA; performance weakens as students advance.

The school operates as a regular public middle school within Mount Pleasant Central School District, which recently secured voter approval for a substantial Instructional Bond (passed in December 2023) that includes classroom additions at elementary schools, cafeteria expansion at the high school to make room for a new engineering lab, and upgraded science labs, makerspaces, and libraries across the district. These improvements are being funded through retiring debt, so families absorb no added tax burden. The district also passed a Field Bond in 2022 for turf and athletic facility upgrades on the Westlake campus. Additionally, the district launched a tuition-free Universal Pre-K program in 2025. These initiatives reflect a district investing in instructional facilities and early learning.

Thornwood itself is a solidly middle-class suburban community of leafy, hilly streets with single-family homes, colonials, Capes, and ranches. Housing values in the area are substantial, and the neighborhood is car-dependent, with limited sidewalks and walkability concentrated on commercial corridors like Columbus Avenue. The community has experienced modest population pressures over the past decade, but new housing development—rental apartments, senior living communities, and larger single-family projects—is actively reshaping parts of the surrounding town. Families commute to White Plains or New York City for work; local employers have included Carl Zeiss headquarters (since downsized) and the school district itself. Recreation centers on town-wide Mount Pleasant facilities, including parks, pools, and community centers in Valhalla. The historic Metro-North Thornwood station closed years ago; residents use Pleasantville and Hawthorne stations on the Harlem Line.

The school's academic pathway shows clear competence in the younger grades, with a noticeable transition challenge at eighth grade. Parents considering this school should understand the grade-six and grade-seven strengths, ask the school directly about eighth-grade placements and the composition of the tested cohort, and recognize that this is a traditional public suburban middle school serving a stable, family-oriented community with active district-level facility investment underway.

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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
Science	92	83.0%
Math	81	100.0%

Math

Grade 673%

School 73% · District 73%

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

Grade 771%

School 71% · District 71%

▲ 18 pts above state median · ▲ 17 pts above county median

Grade 814%

School 14% · District 14%

▼ 23 pts below state median · ▼ 25 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 678%

School 78% · District 78%

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

Grade 758%

School 58% · District 58%

▲ 11 pts above state median · ▲ 6 pts above county median

Grade 864%

School 64% · District 64%

▲ 16 pts above state median · ▲ 11 pts above county median

Science

Grade 848%

School 48% · District 49% · ▼ 1 pts below district

▲ 14 pts above state median · ▲ 29 pts above county median

Social studies

Grade 896%

School 96% · district not reported

▲ 18 pts above state median · ▲ 7 pts above county median

This schoolMOUNT PLEASANT 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-income88%Higher-income77%11 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income60%Higher-income58%2 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income39%Higher-income69%30 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 6Lower-income53%Higher-income76%23 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income60%Higher-income72%12 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income0%Higher-income18%18 pp gap