I.S. 117 Joseph H. Wade

Proficiency sits below district averages on every measure — ELA at 30% (district ~45%), math at 19% (district ~45%), science at 20%. The long view tells a more hopeful story: ELA has roughly tripled since 2016 (from 10% to 30%), and math has more than tripled (from 5% to 19%). The 2024 dip and 2025 partial rebound suggest some volatility, but the trajectory is clearly upward, and eighth-graders post the strongest ELA results (41%) — a sign that students who stay through middle school tend to gain ground.

Parent satisfaction is strikingly high at 98% — well above the district average of 94% — and parent trust in teachers and the principal both hit 98%. Teachers rate instruction quality at 92% but report weaker trust in school leadership (74%) and in each other (70%). The chronic absenteeism rate of 62% is the biggest day-to-day concern, and discipline is a watch item: suspensions climbed from 2 (2021–22) to 17 (2023–24), and the school's 5% suspension rate sits far above the district's 0.4%.

The student body is overwhelmingly Hispanic (81%) and Black (18%), mirroring the working-class character of surrounding Mount Hope. With an economic need index of 93.6, virtually every student comes from a low-income household, and 27% receive special education services. The school's ELL support program reflects the linguistic needs of the families walking through the doors.

Mount Hope is a working-class, predominantly renter neighborhood where median household income sits around $41,000 and nearly a third of residents live below the poverty line. Only about 13% of households include children, and just 15% of adults hold a bachelor's degree — a reminder that the families sending kids here are navigating real economic pressure day to day.

The school is genuinely well-served by transit: 176 St on the 4 line is about a 3-minute walk, 174–175 Sts on the B and D lines is about 4 minutes, and Tremont Av on the B and D is about 5 minutes.