Earl L Vandermeulen High School, Port Jefferson NY

Original Research by School Decision on Earl L Vandermeulen High School

Earl L. Vandermeulen High School is a small public high school serving grades nine through twelve in Port Jefferson, a compact harborside village on Long Island's North Shore. The school draws from a community with particular economic circumstances that any prospective family should understand from the start.

The enrollment is small, around that size for a rural or small-town high school, and the student body is predominantly white, with modest shares of Asian, Hispanic, and other backgrounds. A small fraction of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, suggesting a generally higher-income enrollment. Data on students with disabilities or English learners was not available, so a parent may want to ask the school directly about those populations and the supports in place.

State testing results pose a challenge to assess. The school reports zero students tested in math, English language arts, and science for the most recent year. This gap most likely reflects Vandermeulen's grade band: state tests in New York target grades three through eight, and Vandermeulen serves only grades nine through twelve. Since the school does not serve tested grades, no proficiency data exists. A parent seeking evidence of academic performance in core subjects would need to look elsewhere, such as the school's course catalog, Regents Exam results if the school reports them, or college-placement rates, none of which appear in the available data. The school does not report a graduation rate, so four-year completion data is not on hand either.

The Port Jefferson Union Free School District, which operates Vandermeulen, faces significant fiscal headwinds that affect school quality and family budgets. A long-term property-tax settlement with the region's power plant is reducing that facility's assessed value substantially over a multiyear period, shifting an increasing share of school funding onto local homeowners. This dynamic will be steepest through the 2026-27 school year. Additionally, the district settled all Child Victims Act lawsuits in late 2024, a substantial liability that will require long-term debt conversion beginning in 2026-27, imposing further pressure on district finances and local tax rates. Voters rejected two capital bond measures in 2022 and 2023, though they approved a smaller reserve-fund allocation in 2025 for urgent roof and HVAC work, so the buildings remain in a state of partial modernization rather than comprehensive renewal. Any family considering Port Jefferson should factor these district-level costs into their long-term housing and education budget.

The broader Port Jefferson setting is a mix of harborside tourism, healthcare employment (two hospitals anchor local jobs), and residential neighborhoods on hillsides away from the downtown core. The school sits on its own grounds on Old Post Road, apart from the commercial and waterfront areas. Housing values in the zip code are substantial, reflecting demand across the region, and rents are correspondingly high. The village is undergoing Upper Port revitalization with transit-oriented development near the LIRR station, adding mixed-use housing and remaking walkability in the center, though the residential hills around Vandermeulen remain the traditional neighborhood fabric.

Without state testing, graduation, or detailed course and program data in the available records, a parent evaluating Vandermeulen for academic fit should request the school's own assessment summaries, course offerings, AP availability, post-secondary placement information, and any extracurricular pathways. The school's small size and location in an affluent community are plain facts; what remains to learn is how the school itself uses those conditions to support its students' learning and next steps.

See more original research from School Decision →

Academic performance

State test results and graduation outcomes.

Graduation rate (ACGR)

>=95%Cohort of 86 students · Class of 2021

The federal source publishes a banded range instead of an exact rate when the graduating cohort is small enough that an exact number could risk identifying individual students.

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

29 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

16 tested · Grade 10

68.8%

scored 3 or higher

Calculus BC

15 tested

73.3%

scored 3 or higher

Computer Science A

1 tested

0.0%

scored 3 or higher

Computer Science Principles

22 tested · Grade 10

81.8%

scored 3 or higher

Statistics

16 tested · Grade 9, Grade 10

62.5%

scored 3 or higher

Sciences

Biology

26 tested · Grade 10

69.2%

scored 3 or higher

Chemistry

23 tested · Grade 10

95.7%

scored 3 or higher

Environmental Science

17 tested

76.5%

scored 3 or higher

Physics 1

16 tested · Grade 10

81.3%

scored 3 or higher

Physics C: Electricity and Magnetism

1 tested

0.0%

scored 3 or higher

Physics C: Mechanics

1 tested

0.0%

scored 3 or higher

English

Research

9 tested · Grade 10

55.6%

scored 3 or higher

Seminar

35 tested · Grade 10

97.1%

scored 3 or higher

History and Social Sciences

Human Geography

1 tested

0.0%

scored 3 or higher

Macroeconomics

19 tested

73.7%

scored 3 or higher

Microeconomics

1 tested

0.0%

scored 3 or higher

Psychology

12 tested · Grade 10

58.3%

scored 3 or higher

U.S. History

44 tested

88.6%

scored 3 or higher

World Languages and Cultures

French Language and Culture

3 tested

0.0%

scored 3 or higher

Japanese Language and Culture

1 tested · Grade 10

0.0%

scored 3 or higher

Latin: Vergil (archived)

7 tested

57.1%

scored 3 or higher

Spanish Language and Culture

9 tested

77.8%

scored 3 or higher

Spanish Literature and Culture

2 tested

0.0%

scored 3 or higher

Arts

Music Theory

13 tested · Grade 10

23.1%

scored 3 or higher

Studio Art Drawing

1 tested

0.0%

scored 3 or higher

Other

Language and Comp

30 tested

86.7%

scored 3 or higher

Literature and Comp

25 tested

96.0%

scored 3 or higher

Studio Art 2d Design

5 tested

0.0%

scored 3 or higher

World History

18 tested · Grade 10

94.4%

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
Ela	85	94.0%
Social Studies	83	92.0%
Science	77	95.0%
Math	10	50.0%

Math

Grade 80%

School 0% · District 33% · ▼ 33 pts below district

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

English language arts

Grade 80%

School 0% · District 59% · ▼ 59 pts below district

▼ 48 pts below state median · ▼ 44 pts below county median

Science

Grade 80%

School 0% · District 58% · ▼ 58 pts below district

▼ 33 pts below state median · ▼ 27 pts below county median

This schoolPORT JEFFERSON UNION FREE 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.