Gaskill Preparatory School, Niagara Falls NY

Original Research by School Decision on Gaskill Preparatory School

Gaskill Preparatory School is a public middle school serving grades seven through eight in Niagara Falls, located in the Niagara Falls City School District. The school enrolls a diverse student body with a substantial share qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch. The enrollment is roughly evenly split between the two grades.

The racial and ethnic composition reflects the city's demographics: a plurality of students identify as Black, with meaningful shares identifying as white or as two or more races, and smaller populations of Hispanic, Asian, and Native American students. Data on students receiving special education services or English language support was not available.

Academic performance across state assessments is low. In seventh-grade mathematics, about one-quarter of students achieved proficiency, with a similar share proficient in seventh-grade English language arts. Performance drops notably in eighth grade: mathematics proficiency falls to single digits, while eighth-grade English language arts proficiency is in the low twenties. Eighth-grade science proficiency is around fifteen percent. A social studies assessment from the 2009-2010 school year showed much stronger performance, but current social studies testing results were not available, so the school's standing in that subject cannot be assessed from recent data. The school's overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades falls in the bottom quartile relative to other districts in Niagara County.

Test participation rates are generally strong in seventh grade and range from around seventy to ninety-five percent in eighth grade, indicating that absences or opt-outs are not masking the proficiency picture.

The school offers music as part of its arts program. Beyond that, available program information is limited; a parent seeking details about core instruction, literacy or mathematics intervention, exploratory courses, or extracurricular offerings may want to consult the school website or contact the district directly.

Niagara Falls itself is a mid-sized city slowly declining in population, centered on tourism near the Falls and surrounding residential neighborhoods. The city's economy relies on health care, retail, manufacturing, and the tourism industry. The housing market is affordable by state standards, with median home values and rental costs well below state benchmarks, reflecting economic pressures in the region. Employment is steady but not robust, and the city has lost population significantly over decades.

The district recently secured voter approval for a major capital projects referendum that will fund facility improvements across schools, including work at the middle and high schools, with state reimbursement covering the bulk of costs and no local tax increase. More substantially, the district has launched Say Yes Niagara Falls, a program that will provide last-dollar tuition scholarships to students pursuing higher education or certificate and apprenticeship programs beginning in 2026-2027, alongside expanded community schools and youth leadership support. These are meaningful, durable investments in student pathways and family support.

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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	52	62.0%
Math	9	89.0%

Math

Grade 725%

School 25% · District 27% · ▼ 2 pts below district

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

Grade 86%

School 6% · District 8% · ▼ 2 pts below district

▼ 31 pts below state median · ▼ 24 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 728%

School 28% · District 27% · ▲ 1 pts above district

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

Grade 822%

School 22% · District 31% · ▼ 9 pts below district

▼ 26 pts below state median · ▼ 17 pts below county median

Science

Grade 815%

School 15% · District 25% · ▼ 11 pts below district

▼ 19 pts below state median · ▼ 26 pts below county median

Social studies

Grade 874%

School 74% · district not reported

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

This schoolNIAGARA FALLS 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 7Lower-income24%Higher-income62%38 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income19%Higher-income48%29 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 7Lower-income21%Higher-income60%39 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income7%Higher-income0%7 pp gap