Dr Walter Cooper Academy

Dr Walter Cooper Academy is an elementary school located in Rochester, New York, serving grades PK-6 with a total enrollment of 336 students. The school is part of the Rochester City School District, which is ranked 849 out of 865 school districts in New York and has a 0-star rating from SchoolDigger.

Dr Walter Cooper Academy consistently ranks among the lowest-performing elementary schools in New York, with proficiency rates in English Language Arts (ELA) and Math on the New York State Assessments significantly lower than the state and district averages. For example, in 2023-2024, the school's proficiency rates ranged from 4.65% to 16.67% in ELA and 6.98% to 27.27% in Math, compared to the state averages of 42.6% to 47.05% in ELA and 48.93% to 58.03% in Math. The school also serves a high-needs student population, with 89.29% of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch in the 2022-2023 school year. Interestingly, nearby schools within the Rochester City School District, such as School 4-George Mather Forbes, School 2-Clara Barton, and School 16-John Walton Spencer, also perform poorly on academic measures, with proficiency rates similar to or lower than Dr Walter Cooper Academy.

However, School 19-Dr Charles T Lunsford and Joseph C Wilson Foundation Academy, which are also part of the Rochester City School District, demonstrate higher academic performance compared to Dr Walter Cooper Academy and the other nearby schools. This suggests that it is possible for schools in the district to achieve higher academic outcomes, even with a similar student population. Identifying and replicating the successful practices and strategies employed by these higher-performing schools could provide valuable insights for improving the educational outcomes at Dr Walter Cooper Academy and other low-performing schools in the district.