Gaynor McCown Expeditionary Learning School

Standardized test proficiency data isn't shown in the available figures, so a clean academic comparison to the district's roughly 61% ELA and 61% Math averages isn't possible. What stands out from the program side: the school offers AP Courses and a Humanities focus within its Expeditionary Learning model, plus ELL support and Spanish for language learners. Twenty-five percent of students have IEPs, which is meaningful context — special education is a real part of how this school is staffed and scheduled. Class size sits right at the district average of about 23, so students aren't getting smaller cohorts than peers elsewhere in District 31.

The climate numbers here are the kind you almost never see. Teacher-principal trust is 100%, teacher collegial trust is 98%, and teacher-reported instruction quality is 97% — all above the District 31 averages of roughly 94% and 93%. Parent satisfaction lands at 92%, just a hair below the district average of 93%, and parent-principal trust is 95%. Total suspensions: zero. The day-to-day feel is one where the staff is aligned, families feel reasonably heard, and discipline isn't a flashpoint. One honest caveat: only 19% of families completed the survey and 31 teachers responded, so the climate story is based on a relatively small slice of the school community — the people who did respond are glowing, but the response rate suggests some families aren't being captured.

Gaynor McCown's student body is about half White (50%), with Hispanic students making up 22%, Black students 10%, and Asian students 9%. That mix lines up reasonably well with the surrounding neighborhood, which is largely middle-income and family-oriented — about a quarter of households in the area have children, and the median household income is around $98,000. The school's economic need index is 47.1, meaning roughly half of students are considered economically disadvantaged, somewhat higher than the neighborhood's 10.5% poverty rate would suggest — a reminder that this is a citywide screened school drawing from across Staten Island, not just the immediate blocks.

The school is in New Springville-Willowbrook-Bulls Head-Travis, a sprawling residential pocket of Staten Island defined by single-family homeownership (76%), a median home value around $641,000, and a population where about a quarter of households include children. The median household income is roughly $98,000 and about 34% of adults have a bachelor's degree or higher — solidly middle-class, family-oriented, and largely car-dependent. With no subway stations within a 20-minute walk, daily life here runs on cars and local buses, which shapes how families connect to the rest of the city.

No subway stations are within a 20-minute walk of the school, so families here rely on driving, school transportation, or local Staten Island buses to get to and from campus