Oswego Middle School, Oswego NY - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Oswego Middle School

Oswego Middle School serves grades seven and eight in a small city on Lake Ontario that has been undergoing waterfront-led revitalization. The school enrolls a student body that is predominantly white and reflects substantial economic need, with about half the enrollment qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch. The school is open and operational as a regular public middle school within the Oswego City School District.

Academic performance at Oswego Middle School sits well above the midpoint among Oswego County's districts on an overall proficiency index, placing it in the top quartile of county schools when all tested subjects and grades are averaged together. However, this aggregate picture masks important variation across grades and subjects.

In seventh-grade mathematics, proficiency is in the low-to-mid range, with a substantial majority of students not yet meeting state proficiency benchmarks. Eighth-grade mathematics shows a steeper decline, with proficiency dropping noticeably. English language arts in seventh grade is the school's softest area, with proficiency well below half. Eighth-grade ELA recovers somewhat but remains moderate. Eighth-grade science proficiency is also notably low. The school's test participation rates are solid in most grades, though eighth-grade math participation dipped below full engagement. A parent examining these results may want to look into the school's approach to seventh-to-eighth-grade math transitions and ELA instruction, where the gaps are most pronounced.

The enrollment totals around mid-sized for a middle school of this type, with roughly equal numbers across the two grades plus a handful of students whose grade assignment is unspecified. The student population is economically diverse but weighted toward lower-income households. Racial and ethnic composition is heavily white, with smaller shares of Hispanic and multiracial students and very few students of Asian or Black descent. Data on students with individualized education plans and English learners was not available.

Oswego itself is a historic port city that has recently completed a state-sponsored downtown revitalization initiative, finishing all ten of its funded projects by 2023 and becoming the first community in the state to do so. Major developments include Harbor View Square, a mixed-income, mixed-use waterfront complex with apartments and ground-floor retail completed in 2022, and the Riverwalk, a market-rate apartment building on West First Street built in 2021. The downtown core is walkable and anchored by waterfront parks, marinas, and civic spaces, though walkability varies significantly in residential neighborhoods farther from the center. The city's economy is anchored by health care, higher education centered on SUNY Oswego, and local government employment.

Housing values in the Oswego zip code are below state and national benchmarks, with affordability favorable relative to national standards, though rental costs have risen sharply year-over-year. Home values have climbed modestly. For a family considering the area, the combination of revitalized downtown, waterfront access, and lower housing costs is offset against limited public transit and the economic adjustments facing a post-industrial city dependent on anchor institutions.

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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	41	100.0%
Science	39	97.0%

Math

Grade 752%

School 52% · District 52% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▼ 1 pts below state median

Grade 843%

School 43% · District 43%

▲ 5 pts above state median · ▲ 3 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 738%

School 38% · District 38%

▼ 9 pts below state median

Grade 843%

School 43% · District 43%

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

Science

Grade 836%

School 36% · District 36%

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

Social studies

Grade 880%

School 80% · district not reported

▲ 2 pts above state median

This schoolOSWEGO 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-income27%Higher-income45%18 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income29%Higher-income52%23 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 7Lower-income31%Higher-income65%34 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income27%Higher-income53%26 pp gap