At a Glance
A 3,600-student Queens high school where you apply to a specific academy — not to the school as a whole
Best suited for
A motivated student with a clear academic or artistic interest who'd thrive in one of the school's specialized academies, and a family comfortable navigating a large, application-driven high school environment.
Overall Rating
Rating = average of 4-year graduation, English Regents college-ready and Regents completion · DOE 2025 report
Bands are Motley's thresholds on a 0–100 scale, not New York State performance levels.
How this is scored→What stands out
- Six screened academies, several with single-digit acceptance rates — the Law Academy and Carl Sagan STEM program each receive thousands of applicants for around 100-135 seats
- Zero suspensions recorded, a striking discipline record for a school of more than 3,600 students
- Eleven-plus world languages on offer, including less common ones like Hebrew, Japanese, and American Sign Language
- Parent-principal trust at 98%, well above most city high schools
- A wide athletics menu — 13+ varsity sports including handball, bowling, and lacrosse
Things to consider
- Admissions are audition/screened, so your child applies to a specific program — there is no general "Forest Hills High School" admissions track
- The teacher-principal trust gap (58% vs 98% from parents) is worth probing on a school tour
- At more than 3,600 students, this is a large school where the day-to-day experience varies a lot by which academy your child lands in
- The 11% family survey response rate means satisfaction numbers reflect a self-selected subset of parents
Based on 2024-25 data
School SummaryDistrict 28
Forest Hills High is one of District 28's flagship large high schools, sitting alongside selective peers like Queens Gateway to Health Sciences and drawing applicants from across Queens for its specialized academies.
Academics
The school's academic identity lives in its screened programs rather than citywide proficiency numbers. The Law Academy, Carl Sagan STEM Honors Academy, and Dual Language Spanish track each draw thousands of applicants for a few hundred seats, functioning as selective programs inside a comprehensive school. AP courses, dual-language pathways, and dedicated STEM and humanities tracks give admitted students serious academic options, and the school offers 11+ world languages including Mandarin, Hebrew, Japanese, and ASL. A program richness score of 70/100 reflects that breadth, even if individual test-score performance isn't reported here.
Culture
The day-to-day feel is unusually orderly: zero suspensions were recorded, well below the district average of 0.37%, and parent satisfaction numbers (96%) and parent-principal trust (98%) are among the strongest in the district. The teacher picture is more complicated — 91% rate instruction quality highly, but only 58% say they trust the principal, a sharp contrast with how families view leadership. The family survey response rate was just 11%, so the satisfaction numbers reflect a self-selected slice of parents rather than a schoolwide read.
Community
Forest Hills High draws a remarkably mixed student body: 40% Hispanic, 26% Asian, 26% White, and 6% Black, with a diversity index of 73%. About 60% of students qualify for economic need, even as the surrounding Forest Hills neighborhood skews wealthier and more college-educated than the city as a whole — a contrast that reflects the school's boroughwide draw. About 17% of students have IEPs, in line with what you'd expect at a large comprehensive school.
Neighborhood
Forest Hills is a settled, middle-to-upper-middle-class Queens neighborhood where roughly 60% of adults hold a bachelor's degree and median household income is about $104,000. About 18% of households have children and nearly half of homes are owner-occupied — a relatively stable community that draws plenty of long-term families. The poverty rate runs around 8%, well below the citywide average.
Three subway stations serve the school: Forest Hills-71 Av (E, F, M, R) about a 12-minute walk, 67 Av (M, R) about 11 minutes, and 75 Av (E, F) about 18 minutes.
Survey Results
NYC School Survey (2025) · 363 families responded (11% rate)
Programs & Activities
Admissions Demand
Program available to students who possess oral fluency in Chinese language. Students will develop high literacy in Mandarin and learn about Chinese culture through a sequence of classes and activities culminating in an AP class and a special project.
Dual Language programs are designed to integrate English Language Learners with English-proficient students to receive content instruction in English and a target language.
This academy is a comprehensive science and math program for students who are interested in pursuing careers related to science, technology, engineering, and math. This program begins with a course in STEM fundamentals, which leads to four unique pathways of study: Research, Applied Sciences, Health Professions, and Engineering/Computer Programming. For more information go to our school website www.foresthillshs.org and click on Academics, Science Department.
This academy offers students the opportunity to study legal writing, civil, criminal, and constitutional law while developing higher order critical thinking and communication skills as they prepare for college and career. Students can participate in internships, jobsite visits, mock trial, and moot court.
One-year multimedia class with opportunity to take a three-year advanced sequence of all aspects of theater.
This academy includes beginning, intermediate, and advanced instruction on all band, orchestra, and percussion instruments as well as voice. Students take four sequential years of music theory that culminate in the NYC Music Comprehensive Exam. Our ensembles include: Beginning Band, Intermediate Band, Concert Band, Jazz Band, Beginning Orchestra, Intermediate Orchestra, Symphonic Orchestra, Beginning and Advanced Percussion, Vocal Training, Women's Choir, and Concert Choir.
Racial & Ethnic Diversity
NYC DOE InfoHub · 2022-23
Discipline
NYSED Student & Educator Database
Economic Need & Special Populations
How to get in, step by step
High school (9th grade)
High school is one citywide application, made in 8th grade. Forest Hills High School admits through 7 programs, and each one has its own admissions method:
- Academy of Chinese StudiesEd. Opt.
- Academy of Instrumental and Vocal MusicAuditionVirtual or in personAudition required
- Carl Sagan Science/Math Honors AcademyScreened204 seats
- Drama AcademyAuditionVirtual or in personAudition required
- Dual Language SpanishScreened
- Law & Humanities InstituteEd. Opt.136 seats
- ZonedZoned
High school application
- Opened
- Tue, Oct 6
- Closes
- Fri, Dec 4
- Offers
- Wed, Mar 3
The DOE’s published dates.
- 1Apply on MySchools during the high school application, in 8th grade.
- 2Screened programs rank the 7th-grade core-course average, so last year's final grades are the ones that count.
- 3Audition programs need a booked audition or portfolio on top of the application — book the slot through MySchools, and prepare what each studio asks for.
- 4Educational Option programs fill in equal shares across three reading levels, half by the school's ranking and half by lottery.
- 5Zoned programs give priority to students who live in the zone — a priority, not a guaranteed seat.
- 6Rank programs in true preference order — the match places your child in the highest-ranked one that offers a seat.
Open houses and tours
Open house
Wed, Nov 4, · 6:00 PM · Virtual
From the MySchools admissions calendar, checked weekly.
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Frequently Asked Questions
- Is Forest Hills High School a good school?
- On Motley, Forest Hills High School earns an overall rating of 71/100 — the average of the school's four-year graduation rate, the share of its students scoring college-ready (70+) on the English Regents, and its Regents completion rate, shown out of 100.
- What grades does Forest Hills High School serve?
- Forest Hills High School serves grades 9 to 12.
- How do students get into Forest Hills High School?
- Forest Hills High School admits by audition — applicants are judged on a performance, portfolio, or talent area.
- Is Forest Hills High School public, charter, or private?
- Forest Hills High School is a public school in NYC Community School District 28.
- What neighborhood is Forest Hills High School in?
- Forest Hills High School is in Forest Hills, Queens.