J.H.S. 185 Edward Bleeker

Math proficiency at 78.7% runs nearly ten points above the District 25 average of 69.6%, and ELA at 69.1% sits about four points above the district's 64.9%. The trajectory is the more interesting story: math scores climbed from 60.3% in 2022 to 78.7% in 2025 — a sharp recent acceleration, while ELA has trended upward more gradually from 55.6% in 2016. By grade level, the picture gets stronger as students move through: 6th-graders post 72.9% math proficiency, but 7th-graders jump to 82.7% and 8th-graders hold at 80.1%, suggesting the school finds its academic stride after the transition year.

Day-to-day climate here reads warm and orderly. The 0% suspension rate (six total incidents last year, down from twelve the year before) is well below the district average of 0.25%, and parent satisfaction at 94% plus parent-principal trust at 97% suggest families feel heard. Teacher instruction quality at 92% is also above the district norm. One honest flag: chronic absenteeism sits at 85.2%, meaning most students are missing significant school days even as average attendance looks healthy at 95.4%. That's a tension worth parents asking about on a tour — strong engagement from families who show up, but a real attendance gap that affects the broader school.

The student body is 59% Asian, 29% Hispanic, 10% White, and 2% Black, with a diversity index of 56% — meaningfully mixed, though Asian plurality reflects the Murray Hill-Broadway Flushing catchment. About 63% of students qualify for economic need, and 16% have IEPs, in line with the district's middle-school profile. The neighborhood around the school has a median household income of about $69,000 and 21% of households include children, making it a family-dense area where this school is a central fixture. The cultural makeup of the student body lines up closely with who actually lives in the surrounding blocks.

Murray Hill-Broadway Flushing is a family-dense, working- and middle-class neighborhood where about one in five households includes children and just under half a year owns their home. The median household income sits near $69,000 and about 16% of residents live below the poverty line — a community with real economic range but a clear family orientation. The cultural texture here is shaped heavily by Flushing's longstanding Asian immigrant communities, alongside Hispanic families who make up a meaningful share of the area. The school draws from this catchment directly, so the hallways reflect the neighborhood rather than pulling from elsewhere.

The school sits beyond walking distance of any subway station, so most families rely on school buses, public buses, or driving for the commute.