At a Glance
A small, unscreened Bronx middle school on one of District 11's steepest academic rebounds — though chronic absenteeism remains the unfinished work.
Best suited for
Families looking for a small, unscreened neighborhood middle school with rich programming, who can prioritize consistent daily attendance and value a tight-knit parent community over top-of-the-district test scores.
Overall Rating
Rating = average of NY State ELA + math proficiency, grades 3–8
Bands are Motley's thresholds on a 0–100 scale, not New York State performance levels.
How this is scored→What stands out
- One of the steepest academic rebounds in District 11 — ELA nearly tripled and math more than tripled since 2016.
- An unusually rich program menu (90/100) for a 289-student school, including Film, Musical Theater, Coding, Chess, Saturday Academy, and a Step Team.
- Suspensions are essentially nonexistent at 1% — well under the district average.
- Parent engagement is unusually strong (91% satisfaction, 93% trust in principal) for a school with these test scores.
- Grade 7 math proficiency of 44.4% and Grade 8 ELA at 59.3% show real strength as students move up.
Things to consider
- Chronic absenteeism at 55% is the single biggest flag — over half of students miss enough school to be considered chronically absent, and Black students are even higher at 61%.
- ELA and math proficiency both trail district averages by 15+ percentage points, so families prioritizing raw test scores will want to weigh this carefully.
- Teacher-principal trust is 63% — notably low — and only 7 teachers responded to the survey, so the picture is incomplete.
- Neither subway station is close: both are 10+ minutes on foot, so the commute will matter for some families.
- Average class size of 23.8 is right at the district average, so the small-school feel comes from the building's 289 students, not from class size.
Based on 2024-25 data
School SummaryDistrict 11
District 11 is home to several high-performing charters — Icahn Charter School 4 (96/100), Bronx Charter School for Excellence 2 (94/100), and Icahn Charter School 3 (87/100) all post scores well above this school, which sits below the district average overall score of 2.25/4 and well below its charter peers.
Academics
The headline here is the trajectory, not the snapshot. ELA proficiency has nearly tripled since 2016 (14.5% → 41.6%), and math has more than tripled (9.9% → 30.9%), with the biggest jump coming between 2022 and 2023. Both subjects still trail district averages of about 57% ELA and 56% math — so this is a school catching up, not leading. Grade 7 math is a notable bright spot at 44.4%, and Grade 8 ELA reaches 59.3%, suggesting the gains compound as students move through the building.
Culture
Parents are unusually happy here — 91% satisfied, 92% trust teachers, 93% trust the principal — well above what you'd expect given the academic scores. The flip side is the teacher side: teacher-principal trust sits at just 63%, and only 7 teachers completed the survey, which makes that number worth taking with a grain of salt. Discipline is essentially a non-issue, with just 2 suspensions in 2023-24 (a 1% rate, well under the district's 0.5%), but the daily-attendance picture is tough: 55.3% of students are chronically absent and average daily attendance is 88.6% — about three points below the district's 91.2%.
Community
The student body is 60% Black and 34% Hispanic, with a small slice of Native American students (4%) — a mix that closely tracks the surrounding Eastchester-Edenwald-Baychester neighborhood. The economic need index of 81.3 means most students come from lower-income households, and 26% have individualized education plans. ELL support is available for the school's English-language learners, and the diversity index sits at a moderate 51%.
Neighborhood
Baychester Middle sits in Eastchester-Edenwald-Baychester, a working- and middle-class corner of the eastern Bronx where the median household income is about $70,700 and roughly 18% of residents live below the poverty line. About 16% of households have kids under 18, and the homeownership rate of 42% is unusually solid for NYC — a neighborhood of owners and renters side-by-side, with a median home value around $543,000. Just over a quarter of adults hold a bachelor's degree.
The 5 train is your option — Baychester Av is about an 11-minute walk and Eastchester-Dyre Av is about a 10-minute walk, so most families will rely on a bus, car, or longer walk for the daily trip.
Academic Performance
ELA Proficiency
Students scoring proficient or above on the NY State ELA exam.
NYC DOE InfoHub · 2022-23
Math Proficiency
Students scoring proficient or above on the NY State Math exam.
NYC DOE InfoHub · 2022-23
Science Proficiency
Students scoring proficient or above on the NY State Science exam.
NYC DOE InfoHub · 2022-23
Historical Trends
The dashed line marks 2023, when New York changed its grades 3–8 state tests. Scores before and after it aren’t directly comparable.
2020–2021 data unavailable due to COVID-19
Source: NYC DOE School Quality Reports
Survey Results
NYC School Survey (2025) · 35 families responded (12% rate)
Programs & Activities
Racial & Ethnic Diversity
NYC DOE InfoHub · 2022-23
Discipline
NYSED Student & Educator Database (2023-24)
Economic Need & Special Populations
How to get in, step by step
Middle school (6th grade)
Middle school is one citywide application, made in 5th grade. Baychester Middle School admits through one program, and each one has its own admissions method:
- Baychester Middle SchoolUnscreened73 seats
Middle school application
- Opened
- Wed, Oct 14
- Closes
- Fri, Dec 11
- Offers
- Wed, Apr 7
The DOE’s published dates.
- 1Apply on MySchools during the middle school application, in 5th grade.
- 2Unscreened programs fill by random lottery among the families who rank them.
- 3Rank programs in true preference order — the match places your child in the highest-ranked one that offers a seat.
Open houses and tours
We haven’t seen open-house dates for this school yet.
From the MySchools admissions calendar, checked weekly.
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Frequently Asked Questions
- Is Baychester Middle School a good school?
- On Motley, Baychester Middle School earns an overall rating of 36/100 — the average of the school's New York State ELA and math proficiency, grades 3–8, shown out of 100. Its state test results run below the District 11 average.
- What grades does Baychester Middle School serve?
- Baychester Middle School serves grades 6 to 8.
- How do students get into Baychester Middle School?
- Baychester Middle School admits by application through a random lottery, with no academic screen.
- Is Baychester Middle School public, charter, or private?
- Baychester Middle School is a public school in NYC Community School District 11.
- What neighborhood is Baychester Middle School in?
- Baychester Middle School is in Eastchester-Edenwald-Baychester, Bronx.