Smithtown High School-west, Smithtown NY

Original Research by School Decision on Smithtown High School-west

Smithtown High School-West is a public high school serving grades nine through twelve in Smithtown, a suburban residential community on Long Island's North Shore in Suffolk County. The school enrolls a mid-sized student population with a composition that is predominantly white, with meaningful shares of Hispanic, Asian, and smaller numbers of Black students; a modest share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch.

The school sits in a residential, single-family-home dominated setting anchored by the Long Island Rail Road and extensive parks and natural preserves, including Caleb Smith State Park. The locality is actively pursuing downtown revitalization and transit-oriented housing around LIRR stations, while remaining fundamentally a car-dependent suburban community where residents drive for most daily needs. The median home value in the area is substantial and rising, with rents also climbing. The housing market has shown some supply-side softening this year, though demand remains present. This is a place where families prioritize school stability and property investment; the district recently passed a multi-year facilities bond funded without raising the tax rate, signaling confidence in the physical plant.

State testing data for this school was not available, so readers cannot compare its academic performance to state benchmarks or peer schools in Suffolk County through the state assessment system. The school's graduation rate and chronic absenteeism data were also not provided. These absences make it difficult to characterize academic attainment or engagement trends from standardized metrics. The school's course catalog, staff size, attendance patterns, and school climate information were similarly not in the available data. A parent considering this school would want to request its most recent state test results, graduation rate, course offerings, and student support services directly from the school or the Smithtown Central School District.

What is known is the size and composition of the student body. The enrollment is stable across grades nine through twelve. The free-or-reduced-lunch rate is low, indicating a student population with generally higher family income, consistent with the area's property values and median household income. The demographic makeup is largely reflective of Long Island's suburban, predominantly white communities, with representation from Hispanic and Asian students at meaningful but smaller levels.

The Smithtown Central School District itself is in a pattern of property tax levies set at or near the state-imposed cap, with consecutive years of increases approaching the maximum allowable by state law. The 2021 bond for facility improvements (HVAC, fire alarms, windows, doors, auditorium work, sidewalk repairs) was structured to avoid raising the effective tax rate by replacing expiring debt; those projects are now underway across district buildings. The cumulative levy trend is relevant for families weighing the total cost of residence in this district, particularly given the already high property values in Smithtown.

Without state test results, graduation data, or program detail, this profile cannot speak to academic pathways, college-readiness, or student support depth. Readers should contact the school to understand its AP offerings, career and technical options, special education services, and counseling resources, as well as to see how its students are performing on state assessments and how many graduate on time. The school's strength lies in serving a stable, well-resourced suburban community with solid facilities investment, but its academic character and outcomes remain to be filled in by direct inquiry.

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Academic performance

How students graduate and prepare for what comes next.

Graduation rate (ACGR)

94.0%Cohort of 415 students · Class of 2021

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

25 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

55 tested

87.3%

scored 3 or higher

Calculus BC

41 tested

100.0%

scored 3 or higher

Computer Science A

27 tested

96.3%

scored 3 or higher

Computer Science Principles

4 tested · Grade 9, Grade 10

0.0%

scored 3 or higher

Statistics

29 tested · Grade 10

51.7%

scored 3 or higher

Sciences

Biology

75 tested · Grade 10

93.3%

scored 3 or higher

Chemistry

71 tested

97.2%

scored 3 or higher

Environmental Science

45 tested · Grade 10

68.9%

scored 3 or higher

Physics 1

48 tested · Grade 10

66.7%

scored 3 or higher

Physics C: Electricity and Magnetism

17 tested

52.9%

scored 3 or higher

Physics C: Mechanics

17 tested

82.4%

scored 3 or higher

English

Research

6 tested

100.0%

scored 3 or higher

Seminar

34 tested

91.2%

scored 3 or higher

History and Social Sciences

Comparative Government and Politics

27 tested

74.1%

scored 3 or higher

European History

44 tested · Grade 10

79.5%

scored 3 or higher

Human Geography

12 tested · Grade 10

58.3%

scored 3 or higher

Macroeconomics

42 tested

85.7%

scored 3 or higher

Psychology

21 tested · Grade 10

47.6%

scored 3 or higher

U.S. History

131 tested

93.1%

scored 3 or higher

Arts

Studio Art Drawing

6 tested

0.0%

scored 3 or higher

Other

Language and Comp

90 tested

76.7%

scored 3 or higher

Literature and Comp

60 tested

91.7%

scored 3 or higher

Studio Art 2d Design

7 tested

100.0%

scored 3 or higher

U S Government and Politics

34 tested

88.2%

scored 3 or higher

World History

64 tested · Grade 10

84.4%

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	304	97.0%
Social Studies	295	96.0%
Math	245	95.0%
Science	47	66.0%

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.