Unatego Middle School, Otego NY - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Unatego Middle School

Unatego Middle School serves approximately equally sized cohorts of sixth, seventh, and eighth graders in Otego, a small Susquehanna River village on the western edge of the Catskills in Otsego County. The school is part of the Otego-Unadilla Central School District, which in 2021 voters approved a major capital renovation that was completed in 2025. The project overhauled the middle and high school campus where this school operates, as well as the elementary building and bus garage, with no added local tax levy because state aid and district reserves financed the work. Families using the school now have access to recently renovated facilities.

The student body is predominantly white and includes a substantial share of families with limited income. About two-fifths of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. The school's enrollment is small, typical for a rural district middle school.

On state assessments in 2024-25, the school shows an uneven academic profile across grades and subjects. In mathematics, sixth-grade proficiency is the weakest link in the school's performance. Seventh and eighth grade math proficiency rises considerably and sits firmly in the above-midpoint range among districts in Otsego County, with eighth graders performing particularly solidly. English language arts follows a different pattern: sixth graders perform at midpoint among county districts, seventh grade proficiency dips notably below the midpoint, and eighth graders recover to above-midpoint performance. Eighth-grade science proficiency is above the midpoint. Testing participation across grades was high, above nine-tenths in all subjects.

A parent may want to look into the particular struggles in sixth-grade math and seventh-grade ELA with the school directly to understand what instructional support or transition structures are in place for younger students and how seventh graders are being addressed. The school's overall proficiency index places it in the top quartile of Otsego County's school-level averages across tested subjects and grades.

Otego itself is a quiet residential village with a small commercial core on Main Street where the library and elementary school sit. The Unatego school campus, however, sits separate from the Main Street core, along State Highway 7, so the middle school operates on an out-of-town educational campus rather than within the walkable village center. The surrounding town is rural and low-density with a heritage of farming and timber that still shapes the landscape. Most residents own their homes; a substantial portion are retirees. Median home values in the zip code area are modest relative to state benchmarks, and mortgage and rental costs are below state averages, making housing relatively affordable. The town's comprehensive plan calls for sustainable, family-owned small business growth and affordable housing for working families and seniors, with new development designed to fit existing buildings rather than create sprawl.

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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
Science	13	100.0%
Math	9	100.0%

Math

Grade 643%

School 43% · District 39% · ▲ 4 pts above district

▼ 2 pts below state median · ▼ 11 pts below county median

Grade 779%

School 79% · District 79%

▲ 26 pts above state median · ▲ 30 pts above county median

Grade 882%

School 82% · District 79% · ▲ 3 pts above district

▲ 45 pts above state median · ▲ 40 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 665%

School 65% · District 62% · ▲ 3 pts above district

▲ 19 pts above state median · ▲ 22 pts above county median

Grade 743%

School 43% · District 43%

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

Grade 878%

School 78% · District 74% · ▲ 4 pts above district

▲ 30 pts above state median · ▲ 39 pts above county median

Science

Grade 875%

School 75% · District 74% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▲ 41 pts above state median · ▲ 23 pts above county median

This schoolOTEGO-UNADILLA 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-income59%Higher-income69%10 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income38%Higher-income48%11 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income71%Higher-income83%11 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 6Lower-income41%Higher-income44%3 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income79%Higher-income79%0 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income82%Higher-income83%1 pp gap