Summary:
Zip code 13305, located in the rural community of Beaver Falls, NY, is home to a single middle school, Beaver River Middle School, which serves grades 6 through 8 with an enrollment of 196 students as part of the Beaver River Central School District.
Beaver River Middle School presents a mixed picture of performance. On one hand, it achieves a perfect 100% proficiency rate on the Algebra I and Earth Science Regents exams, indicating a highly effective advanced curriculum for select students. However, grade-level state assessments tell a different story, with 8th-grade Math proficiency at 72.92% (well above the state average of 46.74%) but 7th-grade Math at just 35.56%, and 8th-grade Science at 36% (below the state average of 43.5%). The school’s overall state ranking has improved recently, sitting at 887th out of 1,500 schools (41st percentile) for the 2024-2025 school year, earning a 2-star rating. With 44.39% of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, the school serves a moderately economically disadvantaged population.
Despite spending a substantial $20,755 per student—significantly higher than the national average—the school’s overall proficiency rates in core subjects like ELA and Science remain below state averages. This high spending, combined with a student-teacher ratio of 18:1, raises questions about resource allocation and whether the investment is translating into broad-based student achievement. The standout finding is the dramatic inconsistency between grade levels, particularly the "8th-grade Math anomaly," which suggests that top math students may be taking the Algebra I Regents exam, leaving a smaller, higher-performing group for the standard 8th-grade test. This creates a "two-tier" performance dynamic that parents should investigate further when considering the school’s academic strengths and areas for growth.
Thank you for your feedback!