Grant Middle School, Syracuse NY

Original Research by School Decision on Grant Middle School

Grant Middle School serves grades six through eight in Syracuse, a mid-sized upstate city that sits at the intersection of legacy decline and emerging regional growth. The school enrolls a small-to-mid-sized cohort concentrated across its three grades. Its student body is economically stressed: a substantial majority qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. The school is diverse in racial and ethnic composition, with students of Black, Asian, White, Hispanic, and multiracial backgrounds represented, and a notable share of Asian students, many of whom may be from refugee families resettled in the area.

State testing results show academic performance well below proficiency benchmarks across the board. In math, proficiency rates in grades six through eight range from around one in ten to about one in seven students meeting the state standard. Reading results are somewhat stronger, with grade eight performing notably better than grades six and seven, though still below ten percent proficiency in the earlier grades and about one in three by eighth grade. In eighth-grade science, roughly one in five students achieved proficiency. When compared against other districts in Onondaga County, Grant's overall proficiency index places it in the bottom quartile, a clear signal that this school faces significant instructional and student-readiness challenges. A parent considering Grant should understand these numbers plainly: the vast majority of students are not meeting state standards, and this is a school that will require careful attention to remediation and academic support.

Participation in testing is generally strong across grades and subjects, suggesting the school has not simply excluded lower-performing students from assessment. The exception is eighth-grade math and science, where participation rates are lower, a pattern worth probing with the school directly.

Grant is part of the Syracuse City School District, which serves a high-poverty urban population and operates within the constraints and opportunities of that context. The district is in the midst of significant change. It opened the Syracuse STEAM High School in fall 2025, a state-funded regional technical school housed in a restored downtown landmark, offering specialized pathways in semiconductor technology, robotics, and other fields tied to Micron Technology's planned major regional investment nearby. The district also observes Eid al-Fitr as a no-school holiday, reflecting its substantial Muslim and refugee populations. And the state has authorized a third phase of school facility upgrades across the district, with state reimbursement covering most costs, meaning many buildings are receiving renovations to infrastructure, classrooms, and technology.

None of these district-level developments directly addresses the academic performance gaps visible at Grant, though they do signal district momentum and resource investment. The housing market in Syracuse is modestly priced relative to state and national benchmarks, though rental costs consume a meaningful share of household income for working families. The city's economy is anchored by health care and higher education, and the Micron investment is expected to spur regional job creation over coming years.

A family considering Grant should be clear-eyed about what the test scores show: this is a school serving a high-poverty population with low proficiency and a steep climb ahead. The school's strengths and specific supports are not detailed in available data, so a parent may want to look into this further with the school directly. That conversation should focus on what reading intervention, math tutoring, and academic acceleration programs exist; what classroom practices and curricula are in place; and how the school works with families to track student progress beyond state tests. Grant may be the neighborhood school, and for some families it will be the right choice. But these results warrant careful investigation before enrollment, and regular engagement once a student is enrolled.

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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	59	76.0%
Science	58	71.0%

Math

Grade 612%

School 12% · District 13%

▼ 33 pts below state median · ▼ 28 pts below county median

Grade 715%

School 15% · District 18% · ▼ 3 pts below district

▼ 38 pts below state median · ▼ 39 pts below county median

Grade 810%

School 10% · District 8% · ▲ 2 pts above district

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

English language arts

Grade 615%

School 15% · District 19% · ▼ 4 pts below district

▼ 30 pts below state median · ▼ 23 pts below county median

Grade 718%

School 18% · District 22% · ▼ 5 pts below district

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

Grade 833%

School 33% · District 25% · ▲ 8 pts above district

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

Science

Grade 821%

School 21% · District 15% · ▲ 6 pts above district

▼ 13 pts below state median · ▼ 13 pts below county median

Social studies

Grade 822%

School 22% · district not reported

▼ 57 pts below state median · ▼ 61 pts below county median

This schoolSYRACUSE CITY 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-income13%Higher-income40%27 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income16%Higher-income56%40 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income34%Higher-income27%6 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 6Lower-income10%Higher-income33%23 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income12%Higher-income67%54 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income8%Higher-income30%22 pp gap