Schalmont Middle School, Schenectady NY

Original Research by School Decision on Schalmont Middle School

Schalmont Middle School serves grades five through eight within the Schalmont Central School District, sitting on the western edge of Schenectady County. The school draws from a suburban-feeling portion of the county even though its mailing address is Schenectady; the surrounding community is quieter and more residential in character than the city's walkable downtown core near Proctors Theater and the Mohawk Harbor waterfront, which are a short drive away.

The student body is predominantly white, with smaller shares of Hispanic, multiracial, Black, and Asian students rounding out the enrollment. Roughly a quarter of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which places this school on the lower end of economic need compared to many New York State middle schools. IEP and English learner counts were not reported in the data available, so parents with children in those categories would want to ask the school directly about services. The school is a regular public school with no charter or magnet designation.

On state assessments administered under the New York State Testing Program, the picture varies meaningfully by grade and subject. Fifth and sixth graders tested at moderate rates in math, with sixth grade performing somewhat stronger than fifth. By seventh and eighth grade, math proficiency drops noticeably, and the eighth grade result sits well below the majority of students reaching proficiency. English language arts follows a similar slope: fifth grade is the relative high point, and seventh and eighth grade results fall to roughly three in ten students reaching proficiency. Science results at both tested grades land around the same modest level. Taken together, the school's overall proficiency index places it below the midpoint among districts in Schenectady County, which is the relevant comparison set. The downward trajectory from fifth to eighth grade in both math and ELA is something a parent may want to raise with the school, particularly around what supports are in place for students in the upper middle grades. Social studies testing data in the current period was not reported; the only social studies result in the data is from a much earlier school year and does not reflect present performance.

Participation rates on eighth-grade tests deserve mention. Science participation in eighth grade was notably lower than at other grades, and math and ELA participation was also below the levels seen in fifth and sixth grade. When a substantial share of eighth graders do not test, the reported proficiency figures may not reflect the full cohort, and a parent should factor that into how they read those numbers.

The physical environment has improved in recent years. A community-approved capital project installed air conditioning in all classrooms across the district's buildings and improved traffic and drop-off safety, funded with no tax impact. That work was expected complete by the start of the 2023-24 school year, publicly reported. A much larger capital project, still in preliminary stages as of mid-2025, would expand Jefferson Elementary to address growing district enrollment and make district-wide improvements; if approved, it would carry a meaningful annual tax increase for homeowners for an initial period.

On taxes more broadly, the district held its levy flat for four consecutive years before a modest increase for the current school year. That kind of stability is meaningful context for families evaluating the housing market here. Home values in the area run well below the New York State benchmark and have been appreciating at a healthy pace year over year, making the area accessible relative to the broader state market. Rental data was not available in the dataset.

The district also launched a free pre-kindergarten program for the 2025-26 school year, reopening a formerly closed building to house it. For families with younger children considering the district, that is a newly available on-ramp. Program-level detail for the middle school itself, such as electives, extracurriculars, or academic intervention services, was not in the data provided; the Schalmont Central School District website would be the right place to explore what the middle grades specifically offer.

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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	20	100.0%
Math	15	100.0%

Math

Grade 538%

School 38% · District 38%

▼ 13 pts below state median · even with county median

Grade 654%

School 54% · District 53% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▲ 9 pts above state median · ▲ 7 pts above county median

Grade 741%

School 41% · District 41%

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

Grade 829%

School 29% · District 29%

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

English language arts

Grade 548%

School 48% · District 48%

▼ 6 pts below state median · even with county median

Grade 639%

School 39% · District 38% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▼ 7 pts below state median · ▼ 1 pts below county median

Grade 731%

School 31% · District 31%

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

Grade 829%

School 29% · District 29%

▼ 19 pts below state median · ▼ 12 pts below county median

Science

Grade 539%

School 39% · District 39%

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

Grade 838%

School 38% · District 38% · ▲ 1 pts above district

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

Social studies

Grade 887%

School 87% · district not reported

▲ 9 pts above state median

This schoolSCHALMONT 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 5Lower-income40%Higher-income52%12 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income20%Higher-income49%29 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income8%Higher-income41%33 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income15%Higher-income38%23 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 5Lower-income24%Higher-income45%21 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income30%Higher-income66%36 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income24%Higher-income48%25 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income30%Higher-income28%2 pp gap