Known for its long tradition of excellence and high standards, the Spackenkill Union Free School District is a K–12 public school district located in the western part of Dutchess County, New York. We are currently piloting a Universal Pre-K Program. The District was established in 1865 and has grown from a one-room schoolhouse to four schools serving some 1,500 students. Spackenkill prides itself on being a small community, where families know each other, enhancing the spirit of a shared vision.
In 2023 Niche ratings, the District ranked #1 among Dutchess County districts, scoring an overall grade of A. The District also ranks in the top 3% of over 10,000 ranked school districts across America! Read more about Spackenkill on Niche here.
SHS has earned the College Board's AP® Computer Science Female Diversity Award for expanding young women's access to AP Computer Science Principles (CSP). SHS is one of only 760 schools nationwide to be recognized for achieving this result in AP CSP.
US News placed SHS nationally in the top 5 percent among 18,000 high schools for 2022. This reports ranks public high schools on their performance on state assessments and how well they prepare students for college
Since 2012, the District has received the Best Communities for Music Education Award from the NAMM Foundation.
Spackenkill High School is the recipient of the US Department of Education 2018 National Blue Ribbon Award. SHS is the first high school in Dutchess County to receive the award since its inception in 1982. Among 130,000 schools nationwide, only 349 received this coveted honor in 2018. Of that number, 62 are high schools. Please click here for the National Blue Ribbon Award.
Spackenkill students advance to state and national levels in such competitions as Odyssey of the Mind, Science Olympiad, American Computer Science League, American Mathematics Competition, Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, and Mathcounts. Our students have also placed in the top levels of the Siemens Competition, Regeneron, and ISEF Awards.