The top reported proficiency rate is 64% in Science. The lowest is 41% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Tri-valley Secondary School
Tri-Valley Secondary School serves grades seven through twelve in Grahamsville, a small rural Catskills hamlet in Sullivan County near the western end of Rondout Reservoir. The school is part of the Tri-Valley Central School District, which operates a single integrated Pre-K-12 campus at Moore Hill Road, set apart from the small commercial center of the hamlet rather than embedded within it. The hamlet itself functions as a social and mercantile center for a quiet mountain region historically rooted in farming, lumbering, and tanning, with housing dominated by detached single-family homes, cottages, bungalows, and manufactured homes along curving country roads.
The secondary enrollment sits at just under four hundred students, distributed fairly evenly across the six grades. About half the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch. The student population is predominantly white, with smaller shares of Hispanic, multiracial, Black, and Asian students. The school reported recent state testing data in math and English language arts for grades seven and eight, and science for grade eight. Performance in these middle grades is mixed. In seventh-grade math and ELA, proficiency sits in the mid-to-upper thirties. Eighth grade shows improvement, particularly in science, where proficiency reaches into the low sixties. Eighth-grade ELA proficiency approaches the mid-fifties. Eighth-grade math proficiency falls in the mid-forties. Testing participation rates are generally solid, though the eighth-grade cohorts show notably lower participation in math and science, which a parent may want to look into further with the school. No state testing data for grades nine through twelve was provided, and no graduation rate was available.
Across all reported subjects and grade levels, the school's overall proficiency sits above the median among Sullivan County's districts, placing it in the top quartile on this measure when compared against county peers. This comparative strength in the middle grades is worth noting, even as absolute proficiency levels remain modest.
The district has made investments in its physical plant. Around 2022, it undertook capital improvements including HVAC and plumbing upgrades across the Grahamsville campus. More recently, the district launched a state-funded Universal Pre-Kindergarten program, expanding free early-childhood access for families with four-year-olds.
Data on programs, staffing, course offerings, discipline, attendance, and chronic absenteeism rates were not available. The school website was not provided, and no information on advanced-placement offerings, career and technical pathways, dual-credit programs, or student support services appears in the available materials. A parent considering this school would benefit from direct conversation with the district about what secondary course options, extracurriculars, support services, and post-secondary preparation pathways are available beyond what state assessment data alone can show.
The housing market in the surrounding area reflects modest valuations, with median home values below the state benchmark. Mortgages on local properties run more affordable than the state and national median, though affordability remains stretched relative to local household income. The area has older housing stock, with a median construction year in the 1940s and a substantial share of homes built before that decade, giving the community a settled, established character. Outdoor recreation anchors the region, with the Rondout Reservoir, Neversink Pool, and the Sundown Wild Forest offering trails and access to over a hundred acres of forest across ten mountains. The annual Grahamsville Little World's Fair, described as the longest-running independent fair in New York State, anchors civic and seasonal life.
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