Clarkstown South Senior High School, West Nyack NY

Original Research by School Decision on Clarkstown South Senior High School

Clarkstown South is a regular public high school serving grades nine through twelve in West Nyack, a suburban hamlet in Rockland County roughly a short drive north of Manhattan. The school's setting on Demarest Mill Road sits apart from the hamlet center, which is itself undergoing a multi-phase public revitalization focused on walkability and stormwater infrastructure.

The student body numbers in the mid-range for a high school and reflects the broader demographics of its district and county. The enrollment is roughly half white, with a substantial Hispanic share, a modest Asian enrollment, and a smaller Black enrollment. About a fifth of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, placing the school above the state average in that measure but well below many urban schools. The exact count of students with disabilities or English learners was not available from the school's reported data.

State testing results and graduation rate data for the school were not provided, so a parent cannot see how students here perform on state assessments or how many complete their degrees. This gap often reflects limitations in how individual schools report to the state, or data that the state has not yet released for this year; a parent may want to contact the school directly to ask about recent proficiency trends and graduation outcomes. The comparison position of the school relative to other districts in Rockland County could not be established without those figures.

West Nyack itself is a mature, largely built-out bedroom community. Home values in the zip code are substantial and have edged up modestly in recent years. Rental affordability is tight relative to median household income in the county. The area's major employers center on the Palisades Center, a very large regional mall, along with health care, retail trade, and educational services. Public transit is limited; the town has no passenger rail and relies on highway access and bus service, though the hamlet revitalization added a new bus stop. Residents who work in New York City rely on commuting via car or bus.

The Clarkstown Central School District, of which Clarkstown South is a part, approved a substantial capital improvements bond in 2024 to rebuild HVAC, electrical, window, and flooring systems across all elementary and middle schools. That construction is scheduled to begin in mid-2026 and will reshape the physical learning environment over the following years on a tax-neutral basis. District budgets have passed in recent years with broad voter support, though property tax levy increases have been steady and modest, a factor parents should weigh when considering the cost of living in this area.

The school itself sits within a district that serves West Nyack and other hamlets in the Town of Clarkstown, with schools clustered at separate campuses across the area rather than in a shared downtown core. Program offerings and detailed course access at Clarkstown South were not available from the data provided. A prospective parent would benefit from visiting the school's website or speaking directly with the counseling office to understand the scope of AP, career, and dual-credit pathways, as well as specific academic or extracurricular strengths.

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Academic performance

How students graduate and prepare for what comes next.

Graduation rate (ACGR)

98.0%Cohort of 328 students · Class of 2021

How this school compares to all schools in this state

Each dot is one school’s SY 2020-21 graduation rate, binned by integer rate. Taller columns mean more schools at that rate. This school is highlighted.

1,253 schools plotted. 14 additional schools' rates are federally suppressed and not shown. Data: EDFacts SY 2020-21.

Advanced Placement & IB

35 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

Math and Computer Science

Calculus AB

29 tested

89.7%

scored 3 or higher

Calculus BC

33 tested · Grade 9

78.8%

scored 3 or higher

Computer Science A

11 tested · Grade 10

45.5%

scored 3 or higher

Computer Science Principles

14 tested · Grade 10

64.3%

scored 3 or higher

Statistics

65 tested · Grade 9, Grade 10

95.4%

scored 3 or higher

Sciences

Biology

49 tested

91.8%

scored 3 or higher

Chemistry

12 tested · Grade 10

0.0%

scored 3 or higher

Environmental Science

22 tested

68.2%

scored 3 or higher

Physics C: Electricity and Magnetism

11 tested

90.9%

scored 3 or higher

Physics C: Mechanics

35 tested · Grade 10

62.9%

scored 3 or higher

History and Social Sciences

European History

26 tested

100.0%

scored 3 or higher

Microeconomics

21 tested

90.5%

scored 3 or higher

U.S. History

69 tested · Grade 10

91.3%

scored 3 or higher

World Languages and Cultures

Japanese Language and Culture

6 tested

50.0%

scored 3 or higher

Spanish Language and Culture

6 tested · Grade 10

0.0%

scored 3 or higher

Arts

Music Theory

3 tested · Grade 10

0.0%

scored 3 or higher

International Baccalaureate

Ib Business and Management HL

1 tested

0.0%

scored 3 or higher

Ib Environmental Systems SL

8 tested

50.0%

scored 3 or higher

Ib History HL

6 tested

100.0%

scored 3 or higher

Ib Language a Literature English HL

10 tested

90.0%

scored 3 or higher

Ib Language Ab Initio French SL

1 tested

0.0%

scored 3 or higher

Ib Language B French SL

3 tested

0.0%

scored 3 or higher

Ib Language B Italian SL

2 tested

0.0%

scored 3 or higher

Ib Language B Spanish HL

1 tested

0.0%

scored 3 or higher

Ib Language B Spanish SL

3 tested

0.0%

scored 3 or higher

Ib Mathematics Applications and Interpretation SL

9 tested

55.6%

scored 3 or higher

Ib Music HL

2 tested

0.0%

scored 3 or higher

Ib Sports Exercise and Health Science SL

21 tested

71.4%

scored 3 or higher

Ib Theatre Arts HL

1 tested

0.0%

scored 3 or higher

Ib Visual Arts HL

5 tested

0.0%

scored 3 or higher

Other

Language and Comp

20 tested

90.0%

scored 3 or higher

Literature and Comp

21 tested

90.5%

scored 3 or higher

Studio Art 2d Design

9 tested

88.9%

scored 3 or higher

U S Government and Politics

55 tested

92.7%

scored 3 or higher

World History

52 tested · Grade 9, Grade 10

96.2%

scored 3 or higher

New York Regents Exams

4 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
Social Studies	394	94.0%
Ela	393	93.0%
Math	210	98.0%
Science	76	62.0%

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.