Rondout Valley Junior High School, Accord NY

Original Research by School Decision on Rondout Valley Junior High School

Rondout Valley Junior High School serves seventh and eighth graders in Accord, a small rural hamlet in the Hudson Valley, and enrolls students drawn from the surrounding towns within the Rondout Valley Central School District. The school sits on Kyserike Road on the northeast edge of the hamlet, away from the historic Main Street downtown.

The school's recent state test results show proficiency rates below the midpoint among districts in Ulster County. In seventh-grade math, about a third of students met proficiency. Eighth-grade math was slightly higher at mid-range. English language arts improved from seventh to eighth grade, with eighth-grade proficiency at roughly mid-range. Eighth-grade science was the strongest subject, with proficiency near mid-range. Overall, the school's proficiency index across tested subjects and grades placed it in the bottom quartile relative to other Ulster County districts. A parent may want to look into the school's instructional supports and what strategies staff are using to build student skills, particularly in math.

The school enrollment is small, with about equal numbers of seventh and eighth graders plus a handful of ungraded students. Roughly four in ten students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. The student body is predominantly white, with smaller populations of Hispanic, Asian, Black, and multiracial students. The school does not report counts for students with IEPs or English learners, which is typical for schools at this grade level that do not serve specialized populations separately identified in the data.

Accord itself is a quiet, agricultural hamlet increasingly popular with second-home and city-to-country buyers seeking a rural retreat within driving distance of New York City. The median household income in the area has risen sharply in recent years. The hamlet centers on a small historic Main Street with local businesses and antique shops, though day-to-day life is car-oriented. Most residents rely on private vehicles rather than public transit.

The district has passed a capital project focused on security, safety, and the arts, which will include auditorium and music suite upgrades at the high school. However, the district is also navigating fiscal pressure from declining enrollment and rising health-insurance costs. The adopted 2026-2027 budget includes a property-tax levy increase and does not fill some vacant positions. This means class sizes across most schools are expected to grow. Additionally, beginning in fall 2025, the high school adopted a policy requiring students to store phones and personal devices in locked pouches during the school day, a change that affects how students experience their day and how parents can reach them.

The school serves the rural character and family composition of its community but faces the academic and operational constraints that come with declining enrollment and tight district finances. Families considering this school should understand the current proficiency levels, inquire about the school's academic supports and improvement efforts, and factor in the district's fiscal situation when thinking about classroom sizes and instructional resources ahead.

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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	26	100.0%
Science	25	100.0%

Math

Grade 731%

School 31% · District 31%

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

Grade 836%

School 36% · District 35%

▼ 2 pts below state median · even with county median

English language arts

Grade 742%

School 42% · District 42%

▼ 5 pts below state median · ▼ 3 pts below county median

Grade 844%

School 44% · District 43%

▼ 5 pts below state median · even with county median

Science

Grade 846%

School 46% · District 47%

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

This schoolRONDOUT VALLEY CENTRAL 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-income52%25 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income25%Higher-income57%32 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 7Lower-income19%Higher-income38%19 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income25%Higher-income45%20 pp gap