State Education Commissioner Elia Identifies 185 Reward Schools

State Education Commissioner MaryEllen Elia identified 185 high achieving and high progress schools as Reward Schools today the Department announced. Reward Schools are schools that demonstrate either high academic achievement or the most progress with minimal gaps in student achievement between certain populations of students. Of the 185 identified schools, 127 of them were identified as Reward Schools last year, and 99 have been identified for three consecutive years as Reward Schools.

“These remarkable schools deserve to be recognized for their efforts,” Board of Regents Chancellor Betty A. Rosa said. “The dedicated teachers and administrators in these schools are making a difference in the lives of their students. I congratulate all of the schools that have been awarded with this designation of excellence.”

“These schools serve as models to other schools in the state to inspire them to achieve a high level of accomplishment and improvement,” Commissioner Elia said. “Schools that excel should be recognized, and I am thrilled that many of these schools continue to demonstrate high achievement year after year.”

Each Reward School will receive a certificate of recognition from the Commissioner, and Title I schools may be eligible for a Reward School grant. 

To be identified as a Reward School, a school must:

• Be among the top 20 percent of schools in the state for English language arts (ELA) and math performance for both the 2014-15 and 2015-16 school years or be among the top 10 percent of schools in terms of gains in ELA and math performance in the 2015-16 school year;
• Have made Adequate Yearly Progress for the 2014-15 and 2015-16 school years for all groups of students on all measures for which the school is accountable, including the requirement that 95 percent of all groups participate in the English language arts and mathematics assessments; and
• Not have unacceptably large gaps in student performance on accountability measures between students who are members of an accountability group (e.g., low-income students) and students who are not members of that group.

In addition, elementary and middle schools must demonstrate that more than 50 percent of students are making annual growth in ELA and math; and that more than 50 percent of the school’s lowest achieving students are also making gains. High schools must have graduation rates above 80 percent to be a high achieving school and above 60 percent to be a high progress school. Further, the percentage of students in the school who graduate with a Regents diploma with advanced designation or a Career and Technical Endorsement (CTE) must exceed the State average. Additionally, high schools must show that students are graduating at a rate that exceeds the State average for students who didn’t demonstrate ELA proficiency when they first entered the school.

The Rewards schools include 79 in New York City public schools,88 public schools in the rest of the State and 18 are public charter schools. The full list is below.

New York City

• PS 184 Shuang Wen
• New Explorations Science, Technology and Math
• PS 6 Lillie D Blake
• PS 40 Augustus Saint-Gaudens
• PS 41 Greenwich Village
• PS 59 Beekman Hill International
• PS 77 Lower Lab School
• PS 89
• East Side Middle School
• PS 116 Mary Lindley Murray
• PS 130 Hernando De Soto
• Yorkville East Middle School
• PS 183 Robert L Stevenson
• PS 212 Midtown West
• MS 255 Salk School Of Science
• New York City Lab High School - Collaborative Studies
• New York City Museum School
• Eleanor Roosevelt High School
• Baruch College Campus High School
• Manhattan Village Academy
• Ballet Tech/New York City Public School for Dance
• Stuyvesant High School
• High School for Dual Language & Asian Studies
• PS 163 Alfred E Smith
• PS 166 Richard Rogers of Arts and Science
• MS 243 Center School
• PS 452
• Fiorello H. Laguardia High School
• Special Music School
• Tag Young Scholars
• Manhattan Center-Science and Math
• Columbia Secondary School
• High School of Math Science and Engineering At CCNY
• Hamilton Grange Middle School
• The Mott Hall School
• Bronx High School of Science
• High School of American Studies at Lehman College
• Brooklyn Technical High School
• Bedford Academy High School
• PS 31 Samuel F Dupont
• PS 39 Henry Bristow
• Millennium Brooklyn High School
• The School for Future Leaders
• IS 98 Bay Academy
• PS 195 Manhattan Beach
• PS 254 Dag Hammarskjold
• Leon M Goldstein High School for the Sciences
• Brooklyn College Academy
• PS/IS 113 Anthony J Pranzo
• Academy-Finance and Enterprise
• PS 184 Flushing Manor
• PS 193 Alfred J Kennedy
• PS 209 Clearview Gardens
• The Queens College School for Math, Science and Technology
• Townsend Harris High School
• PS 18 Winchester
• PS 26 Rufus King
• PS 31 Bayside
• PS 46 Alley Pond
• PS 115 James J Ambrose School
• PS 173 Fresh Meadows
• PS/IS 178 Holliswood
• PS 191 Mayflower
• PS 203 Oakland Gardens
• PS 205 Alexander Graham Bell
• PS 213 The Carl Ullman School
• PS 221 The North Hills School
• Scholars' Academy
• Queens Gateway to Health Science Secondary School
• Queens High School for Science at York College
• Young Women's Leadership School of Queens
• PS 38 Rosedale
• PS 131 Abigail Adams
• PS 85 Judge Charles Vallone
• Frank Sinatra School of The Arts High School
• Baccalaureate School for Global Education
• PS 35 The Clove Valley School
• Staten Island Technical High School
• All City Leadership Secondary School

Rest of State

• Amherst Central High School
• Ardsley High School
• Averill Park High School
• Avon High School
• Bayport-Blue Point High School
• John F Kennedy High School
• Bethpage Senior High School
• Todd Elementary School
• Briarcliff High School
• Brighton High School
• Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake Senior High School
• Churchville-Chili Senior High School
• Cincinnatus High School
• Clarkstown South Senior High School
• Croton-Harmon High School
• Dobbs Ferry High School
• East Aurora High School
• East Meadow High School
• Eastchester Senior High School
• Elwood/John Glenn High School
• Fairport Senior High School
• Fayetteville-Manlius Senior High School
• Garden City High School
• Great Neck South High School
• Haldane High School
• Half Hollow Hills High School East
• Harborfields High School
• Harrison High School
• Hastings High School
• Herricks High School
• James I O'Neill High School
• Honeoye Falls-Lima Senior High School
• Iroquois Senior High School
• Irvington High School
• Jericho Senior High School
• Keene Central School
• Lakeland High School
• Lansing High School
• Lewiston Porter Senior High School
• Locust Valley High School
• Lowville High School
• Lynbrook Senior High School
• Maine-Endwell Senior High School
• Manhasset Secondary School
• Massapequa High School
• Mt Sinai High School
• Nanuet Senior High School
• New Hartford Senior High School
• New Paltz Senior High School
• Niskayuna High School
• North Shore Senior High School
• Northport Senior High School
• Orchard Park High School
• Colonial School
• Siwanoy School
• Pelham Memorial High School
• Penfield Senior High School
• Pittsford Sutherland High School
• Pittsford-Mendon High School
• Plainedge Senior High School
• Plainview-Old Bethpage/JFK High School
• Pleasantville High School
• Earl L Vandermeulen High School
• Red Hook Senior High School
• Rhinebeck Senior High School
• South Side High School
• Roslyn High School
• Rush-Henrietta Senior High School
• Midland School
• Rye Neck Senior High School
• Sayville High School
• Greenacres School
• Maple Hill High School
• Shoreham-Wading River High School
• Skaneateles Senior High School
• Smithtown High School-West
• Somers Senior High School
• Spackenkill High School
• Starpoint High School
• Syosset Senior High School
• Vestal Hills Elementary School
• Clayton A Bouton High School
• Wantagh Senior High School
• Webster-Schroeder High School
• Thomas High School
• Westhill High School
• Williamsville South High School
• Yorktown High School

Charter

• Academic Leadership Charter School
• Academy of The City Charter School
• Achievement First Apollo Charter School
• Achievement First Bushwick Charter School
• Bronx Charter School for Excellence
• Central Queens Academy Charter School
• Charter School of Educational Excellence
• Evergreen Charter School
• Harlem Children's Zone Promise
• Hellenic Classical Charter School
• Icahn Charter School 4
• Imagine Me Leadership Charter School
• South Bronx Classical Charter School
• Success Academy Charter School-Harlem 3
• Success Academy Charter School-Harlem 4
• Success Academy Charter School-Upper West
• Success Academy Charter School-Bed Stuy 1
• Success Academy Charter School-Bronx 1

The Commissioner’s action was taken in accordance with New York State’s Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) Flexibility Waiver approved by the United States Department of Education. 

For more details on the Reward School identification methodology, please visit the ESEA Accountability Designations Materials website.

The Reward Schools list is available on the State Education Department (SED) website.