Richard T Stank Middle School, Conklin NY

Original Research by School Decision on Richard T Stank Middle School

Richard T. Stank Middle School serves sixth, seventh, and eighth graders in Conklin, a small rural-suburban town on Broome County's southern edge near the Pennsylvania border. The school has an enrollment of about mid-size for its grade band, distributed fairly evenly across the three grades. Nearly half of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, and the student body is predominantly white, with small numbers of students identifying as multiracial, Hispanic, Black, or Asian.

The school's academic performance reflects a mixed profile. On state testing in English Language Arts, sixth and eighth graders show proficiency rates around the lower to middle range, while seventh graders perform noticeably stronger in this subject. Mathematics results follow a similar pattern, with sixth graders showing lower proficiency and seventh and eighth graders reaching modest proficiency. Eighth-grade science stands as the school's clearest strength, with a substantially higher proficiency rate. Participation in testing is generally strong across grades and subjects, though eighth-grade participation in both math and science dips notably below the levels seen in grades six and seven. Overall, the school's proficiency index places it above the midpoint among the county's districts, a meaningful marker for a school in this setting.

The school sits within the Susquehanna Valley Central School District, which recently completed voter approval of a major capital project in 2022. That investment, financed without a tax increase through state aid and reserves, funds multi-year facility renovations across all four district schools, addressing health and safety needs, instructional space, and energy systems. Construction began in 2024 and extends into late 2025, meaning families considering the area are looking at a district in active infrastructure upgrade rather than decline.

Conklin itself is a low-density, car-dependent landscape of scattered hamlets along Route 7, with the Susquehanna River forming its eastern boundary. The town has no traditional downtown; civic life centers on the historic George F. Johnson community center and the schools themselves, both accessed by car or county transit. Recent growth has been driven by logistics and distribution facilities at the Broome County Corporate Park rather than residential expansion. The area has experienced significant flooding in recent years, which has shaped development patterns. Housing costs in the zipcode are modest relative to state and national benchmarks, and the median household income locally sits below the national figure, placing this as an affordably priced but economically modest community.

A parent or resident considering this school should understand it as a solid mid-tier performer in its county context, with particular strength in science at the eighth-grade level and measurable room for growth in math and reading, especially in the sixth grade. The school is part of a district making real facility investments and serving a stable, car-oriented suburban-rural community where logistics employment is the primary economic driver. The peer group is predominantly white and includes a meaningful share of students from lower-income households. A parent weighing enrollment may want to inquire with the school about specific strategies for addressing sixth-grade proficiency gaps and about the school's approach to math instruction in the middle grades.

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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	18	100.0%
Science	12	100.0%

Math

Grade 641%

School 41% · District 41%

▼ 3 pts below state median · ▲ 2 pts above county median

Grade 755%

School 55% · District 54% · ▲ 2 pts above district

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

Grade 856%

School 56% · District 55% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▲ 19 pts above state median · ▲ 16 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 648%

School 48% · District 48%

▲ 2 pts above state median · ▲ 6 pts above county median

Grade 763%

School 63% · District 61% · ▲ 2 pts above district

▲ 16 pts above state median · ▲ 19 pts above county median

Grade 851%

School 51% · District 50% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▲ 2 pts above state median · ▲ 6 pts above county median

Science

Grade 875%

School 75% · District 76%

▲ 42 pts above state median · ▲ 37 pts above county median

Social studies

Grade 895%

School 95% · district not reported

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

This schoolSUSQUEHANNA 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 6Lower-income32%Higher-income69%37 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income46%Higher-income75%29 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income38%Higher-income62%24 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 6Lower-income28%Higher-income59%31 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income31%Higher-income72%41 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income44%Higher-income72%28 pp gap