New York City Geographic District #12

New York City Geographic District #12 contains 46 schools, including 21 elementary schools, 9 middle schools, 15 high schools, and 1 alternative school, serving a range of performance levels.

Several schools stand out as high-performing, such as PS 66 School Of Higher Expectations, which ranks in the top 15% of New York elementary schools with 62-92% proficiency in ELA and Math, and Samara Community School, which ranks in the top 35% with 48-79% proficiency. However, the district as a whole ranks 760 out of 874 districts in New York, indicating lower-than-average performance, with proficiency rates often 10-20 percentage points below the state average. High school graduation rates are around 84%, slightly below the state average, and chronic absenteeism is high, with many schools reporting over 30% of students chronically absent.

The data suggests significant achievement gaps, with the top schools having proficiency rates 30-50 percentage points higher than the lowest-performing ones. The middle and high schools in the district tend to struggle more than the elementary schools. The high rates of economic disadvantage, with over 90% of students qualifying for free/reduced lunch, appear to be a major factor contributing to the overall lower academic outcomes. While the challenges are significant, the presence of a few standout schools indicates there may be promising practices or programs that could be replicated to raise performance more broadly across the district.