At a Glance
A Soundview middle school with a clear growth story, where families feel heard even as test scores still trail the district.
Best suited for
Families who live within walking distance of the 6 train in Soundview, value a school where parents are heard and discipline is minimal, and are willing to partner closely with teachers on attendance and academics — particularly families who have been pleased with elementary-school progress and want to keep continuity through 8th grade.
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
- A near-zero suspension rate that has held for two consecutive years after a sharp drop from 13 suspensions in 2021-22
- Exceptionally high family engagement — 99% survey response rate and 97% parent satisfaction
- A program richness score of 90 out of 100, including uncommon middle-school offerings like Debate, Lego Robotics, Comic Book Club, and Musical Theater
- ELL Support built into the program model, with nearly all incoming students speaking a language other than English at home
- An Accelerated/Honors track, which is notable for a school where 93% of students qualify as high economic need
Things to consider
- Academic proficiency is well below the District 8 average on both ELA and math, and the 8th-grade scores dip from the 7th-grade peak
- Chronic absenteeism affects nearly 6 in 10 students — families should ask the school directly about attendance initiatives and supports
- Teacher-rated instruction quality (80%) and principal trust (80%) trail the district average of 88%, suggesting the staff experience is less positive than the parent experience
- The diversity index of 39% is low — families hoping for a more mixed peer group may need to look elsewhere
- 28% of students have IEPs, so families whose children need significant special-education services should ask about staffing and self-contained options
Based on 2024-25 data
School SummaryDistrict 8
Kieran's 1.2 out of 4 overall score sits below the District 8 average of 1.88, and its proficiency rates trail district averages by roughly 13-20 percentage points. Among peer schools, it lands closer to District 8's struggling traditional middle schools than to higher-performing options like Success Academy Charter School - Bronx 4, which scores 96/100. The school is not the weakest in the district, but it is not in the upper tier either — families comparing schools should weigh Kieran's gains and strong parent climate against the higher test scores available at Bronx charter and magnet alternatives.
Academics
Test scores at Kieran have roughly doubled since 2016 — ELA proficiency climbed from 15.7% to 32.8% and math from 6.5% to 27.3% — but that growth still leaves the school well below the District 8 averages of about 46% ELA and 48% math. Seventh graders outperform sixth and eighth graders on both subjects, suggesting the 8th-grade year may be where momentum stalls. The overall 1.2 out of 4 score places it among the lower-rated middle schools in the district, though the trajectory is clearly upward year over year.
Culture
The day-to-day feel at Kieran is unusually warm for a large middle school: 97% of parents say they are satisfied and 97% trust their child's teacher, both above the district average of 93%. Discipline is not a problem — suspensions dropped from 13 in 2021-22 to just 2 the past two years, and the suspension rate rounds to 0%. The honest tradeoff is attendance: the chronic absenteeism rate of 58.9% means more than half of students miss 10% or more of school days, even though the overall attendance rate (89.4%) sits right at the district average. Teacher-side numbers are softer, with only 80% rating instruction quality and principal trust positively, compared to a district average of 88%.
Community
Kieran's enrollment of 545 students is 78% Hispanic and 16% Black, with a small Asian population and very low White enrollment — a diversity index of 39% that reflects the homogeneity of the surrounding Soundview-Bruckner-Bronx River neighborhood. Twenty-eight percent of students have IEPs and the economic need index of 93.3 means almost every student qualifies as low-income, which matches the neighborhood's 31.6% poverty rate. With 457 families responding to the climate survey (a 99% response rate), this is a parent body that shows up.
Neighborhood
Soundview-Bruckner-Bronx River is a middle- and working-class residential pocket of the eastern Bronx with a median household income around $41,000 and a homeownership rate of just 13% — most families rent. Only about 16% of households include children, and just 15% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, which means many Kieran families are first-generation navigating the school system themselves.
Three 6 train stops serve the school: Morrison Av-Soundview is about a 7-minute walk, Elder Av about 8 minutes, and St Lawrence Av around 12 minutes.
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) · 457 families responded (99% 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. J.H.S. 123 James M. Kieran admits through one program, and each one has its own admissions method:
- The Bronx Urban Community Magnet SchoolUnscreened136 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 J.H.S. 123 James M. Kieran a good school?
- On Motley, J.H.S. 123 James M. Kieran earns an overall rating of 30/100 — 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 8 average.
- What grades does J.H.S. 123 James M. Kieran serve?
- J.H.S. 123 James M. Kieran serves grades 6 to 8.
- How do students get into J.H.S. 123 James M. Kieran?
- J.H.S. 123 James M. Kieran admits by application through a random lottery, with no academic screen.
- Is J.H.S. 123 James M. Kieran public, charter, or private?
- J.H.S. 123 James M. Kieran is a public school in NYC Community School District 8.
- What neighborhood is J.H.S. 123 James M. Kieran in?
- J.H.S. 123 James M. Kieran is in Soundview-Bruckner-Bronx River, Bronx.