Morse Young Magnet School, Poughkeepsie NY

Original Research by School Decision on Morse Young Magnet School

Morse Young Magnet School sits on Mansion Street in the city of Poughkeepsie, serving kindergarten through sixth grade as part of the Poughkeepsie City School District. The school carries the "magnet" name in its title, though the data available here does not specify what thematic or programmatic focus that designation reflects. A parent considering enrollment would want to ask the school directly about what the magnet program entails.

The student body is a majority-minority, high-poverty community. Black and Hispanic students together make up the large majority of enrollment, and the share of students who qualify for free or reduced-price meals is well above four-fifths of the school. IEP and English learner rates were not available in the data provided.

State assessment results from the New York State Testing Program place Morse Young at the bottom quartile for overall proficiency when measured against districts in Dutchess County. In third and fifth grade ELA, roughly a quarter to just under a third of tested students scored at the proficient level or above. Fourth grade ELA was lower. In math, third and fourth grade proficiency rates were in roughly the same range as the lower ELA grades, while fifth grade math was modestly stronger. Fifth grade science proficiency was notably lower than the ELA and math results at that grade. The sixth grade cohort was very small, making those results statistically thin and not representative of the school's overall trajectory. These are low proficiency rates in absolute terms, and parents may want to discuss with the school how instruction is targeted toward students performing below grade level.

One context worth holding alongside those numbers: the district publicly reported that each of its elementary schools recently earned "good standing" from the state for the first time in a considerable span, and that the district adopted a research-based K-8 ELA and math curriculum aligned with New York's Next Generation Learning Standards, using Curriculum Associates materials and i-Ready diagnostics district-wide. Trend data was not available in the state assessment records, so whether the new curriculum is moving proficiency rates cannot be assessed from what is here.

The district is also mid-stream in a voter-approved capital project representing a major investment across its eight buildings, covering security vestibules, auditoriums, restrooms, and building systems. For the 2025-26 school year, the district reorganized its elementary grade configuration, creating two schools for pre-K through second grade and three schools for grades three through five. How Morse Young fits within that reconfigured structure is worth clarifying directly with the district, because the enrollment data in this record still shows a kindergarten-through-sixth-grade population, and the published reorganization plan does not appear to describe a Morse Young in the new configuration. That is a gap a family should resolve before assuming stable enrollment continuity.

Poughkeepsie itself is a mid-sized Hudson River city with a renter-majority housing market. Home values here sit below the New York State median but have been appreciating, and rents have risen as well, though renting remains considerably less expensive month-to-month than owning at current mortgage rates. The city's downtown is in active revitalization, with state investment through the Downtown Revitalization Initiative, new mixed-use housing projects adapting historic structures on Main Street, and an updated comprehensive plan and zoning code. IBM, Vassar Brothers Medical Center, Vassar College, and Marist College anchor the local economy. The Metro-North Hudson Line connects the city to New York City, and the downtown core around Main Street is reasonably walkable with local bus service covering the city.

A graduation rate does not apply here, as the school serves only elementary grades.

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Academic performance

How students perform on state tests, by grade, set against the district.

Math

Grade 319%

School 19% · District 31% · ▼ 13 pts below district

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

Grade 418%

School 18% · District 34% · ▼ 16 pts below district

▼ 41 pts below state median · ▼ 35 pts below county median

Grade 528%

School 28% · District 29%

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

Grade 60%

School 0% · District 13% · ▼ 13 pts below district

▼ 45 pts below state median · ▼ 57 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 329%

School 29% · District 33% · ▼ 4 pts below district

▼ 23 pts below state median · ▼ 22 pts below county median

Grade 421%

School 21% · District 31% · ▼ 10 pts below district

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

Grade 528%

School 28% · District 33% · ▼ 5 pts below district

▼ 26 pts below state median · ▼ 29 pts below county median

Grade 60%

School 0% · District 25% · ▼ 25 pts below district

▼ 46 pts below state median · ▼ 62 pts below county median

Science

Grade 513%

School 13% · District 18% · ▼ 5 pts below district

▼ 29 pts below state median · ▼ 35 pts below county median

Social studies

Grade 587%

School 87% · district not reported

▼ 4 pts below state median · ▼ 6 pts below county median

This schoolPOUGHKEEPSIE 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 3Lower-income29%Higher-income29%0 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income28%Higher-income33%6 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income19%Higher-income17%2 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income30%Higher-income14%15 pp gap