Sidney Middle School, Sidney NY - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Sidney Middle School

Sidney Middle School serves grades seven and eight in a small rural village in Delaware County in the western Catskill region of New York. The school is a regular public middle school housed on a shared campus with the elementary school in Sidney, a manufacturing-centered community anchored by Amphenol Aerospace. The school's enrollment is small, with roughly equal cohorts in each grade.

Academic performance across core subjects shows proficiency rates that sit above the midpoint relative to other school districts in Delaware County, though the numbers themselves reveal patterns worth understanding. In seventh-grade math and English language arts, proficiency rates are in the low-to-mid range, with slightly higher performance in math. Eighth grade shows a notable decline across subjects. In eighth-grade English language arts, proficiency drops significantly, falling below the county median. Science in eighth grade is the strongest subject area, with proficiency performing near or above the midpoint. A state assessment in social studies from an earlier school year showed substantially stronger results, though that test is no longer administered at the middle level in New York.

The student body is predominantly white, reflecting the local demographic composition. Just over half of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating a moderate concentration of economic need. The school participates fully in state assessments; participation rates in tested grades and subjects are strong, ranging from the mid-eighties to high nineties. Data on special education enrollment and English learners were not available.

Sidney is a walkable village with a historic downtown core along Main Street, where civic life centers around the library, municipal offices, and churches. The Susquehanna River defines the community and hosts the annual General Clinton Canoe Regatta. The village has experienced significant demographic and economic pressures. An aging population and declining tax base have been compounded by repeated major flooding, most recently in recent years. Floodplain buyouts and the GreenPlain redevelopment project have reshaped neighborhoods, with new affordable housing including Sidney Municipal Apartments and Sherwood Landing Apartments designed to relocate flood-displaced households to higher ground. Home values in the surrounding zip code are well below both state and national benchmarks, reflecting the local economy and flood risk.

Voters recently approved a capital project delivering facility upgrades with no added tax impact: a complete elementary playground renovation with new equipment and turf, plus outdoor learning spaces including an amphitheater and classroom pavilions, funded through state aid and the district's capital reserve. Beginning in the 2025-26 school year, the district implemented New York's state-mandated bell-to-bell ban on student use of internet-enabled personal devices during the school day, a change that affects how families contact students during hours.

The district is also weighing a separate capital decision: a pending BOCES referendum on the February 3, 2026 ballot that would include purchasing the Masonville school site for program expansion; all residents of component districts, including Sidney, are eligible to vote and would share debt repayment over time.

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Academic performance

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

New York Regents Exams

1 course 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	6	100.0%

Math

Grade 742%

School 42% · District 42% · ▲ 1 pts above district

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

Grade 838%

School 38% · District 37% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▲ 1 pts above state median · ▼ 6 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 741%

School 41% · District 41% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▼ 6 pts below state median · ▲ 1 pts above county median

Grade 824%

School 24% · District 24% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▼ 24 pts below state median · ▼ 20 pts below county median

Science

Grade 849%

School 49% · District 49%

▲ 15 pts above state median · ▼ 6 pts below county median

Social studies

Grade 877%

School 77% · district not reported

▼ 1 pts below state median

This schoolSIDNEY 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-income15%Higher-income39%24 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income16%Higher-income44%28 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income29%Higher-income59%30 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income20%Higher-income30%11 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 5Lower-income29%Higher-income45%17 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income28%Higher-income59%32 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income33%Higher-income56%24 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income38%Higher-income38%0 pp gap