At a Glance
A selective 6-through-12 arts-and-tech school in Sunnyside where students test roughly 20 points above district averages and zero suspensions signals a tightly run ship.
Best suited for
Queens families who want a rigorous 6-through-12 school with a real arts program and strong college-prep academics, and who don't mind navigating a selective admissions process.
Overall Rating
Grades 3–8
Rating = average of NY State ELA + math proficiency, grades 3–8
High school
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
- Test scores sit roughly 20 percentage points above District 24 averages in both ELA and math, with 7th graders posting 88% ELA and 92% math proficiency.
- Zero suspensions in the most recent reporting year — exceptionally rare for a middle/high school of this size.
- A 100/100 program richness score covering AP courses, accelerated honors, ELL support, and a theater program with professional-level productions.
- A 5.3% offer rate — 1,740 applicants competing for 94 seats — signals a strong reputation that families actively choose.
- A true 6-through-12 grade span lets students build teacher relationships across seven years instead of switching schools at the middle-to-high transition.
Things to consider
- 8th-grade scores drop sharply (60% ELA, 52% math) — worth asking the school what's happening in that transition year.
- Chronic absenteeism at 88.1% is striking even with daily attendance at 94%; the same students appear to be missing many days in a row.
- Teacher-principal trust at 72% and collegial trust at 70% sit well below district averages, which can shape the day-to-day staff culture.
- PTA fundraising per student is just $6 versus a district average of $32, suggesting a thinner parent-funded layer of enrichment.
- Class size of 24.5 matches the district average exactly — not the small-class draw some families are shopping for.
Based on 2024-25 data
School SummaryDistrict 24
Wagner sits comfortably above its District 24 peers — its 2.95/4 overall score outpaces the district's 2.12 average, and it tops every peer school listed, including P.S. 007 Louis F. Simeone and Central Queens Academy Charter.
Academics
ELA proficiency at 73.7% and math at 73.8% both tower over the District 24 averages of roughly 51% and 55%, putting Wagner among the top performers in its district. The 7th grade is the standout cohort — 88% ELA and 92% math proficiency — while 6th graders hold steady in the low-to-mid 70s and 8th graders dip to 60% ELA and 52% math, a pattern worth asking the school about. Scores are down from their 2018–2019 peaks (ELA hit 84.8% in 2018) but have stabilized in the low-to-mid 70s over the past two years.
Culture
The most striking climate signal is zero suspensions — a rare achievement for a middle/high school of this size that suggests strong classroom management. Parents give leadership high marks (92% parent-principal trust, 92% parent-teacher trust), but teachers are more divided: only 72% trust the principal and 70% trust each other, well below district norms, and 85% rate instruction quality as strong versus a district average of 92%. Daily attendance runs at 94.4%, above the district average, though an 88.1% chronic absenteeism rate (and 97.6% for Asian students) suggests the same students are missing many days in a row.
Community
Wagner's 605 students are majority Hispanic (54%) with significant Asian (20%), White (17%), and small Black (5%) representation, yielding a 67% diversity index. The school's 62.4 economic need index sits in the middle range, meaning a meaningful share of students come from low-income households while plenty arrive from more comfortable ones. About 18% of students have IEPs, and the school explicitly offers ELL support and Spanish coursework, making it a workable fit for English learners as well as college-bound kids.
Neighborhood
Sunnyside is a dense, working- and middle-class Queens neighborhood where the median household earns around $78,000 and roughly 12% of residents live below the poverty line. Just 17% of households have children under 18, a relatively low share for NYC that reflects the area's mix of long-time immigrant families, young professionals, and renters. Education levels are solid, with 44% of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher, and homeownership is rare at under 22%.
The 7 train at 33 St-Rawson St is about a 7-minute walk, with the E/F/R at Queens Plaza and the G at Court Sq each roughly 10 minutes away.
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
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) · 239 families responded (40% rate)
Programs & Activities
Admissions Demand
Opportunities in the arts, career education, athletics, college classes, trips, and conferences.
Racial & Ethnic Diversity
NYC DOE InfoHub · 2022-23
PTA Fundraising
Source: DOE Local Law 171 disclosure
Discipline
NYSED Student & Educator Database
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. We don't have Robert F. Wagner, Jr. Secondary School for Arts and Technology's program list, so read how each of its programs admits on MySchools before you rank it.
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.
- 2Rank programs in true preference order — the match places your child in the highest-ranked one that offers a seat.
High school (9th grade)
High school is one citywide application, made in 8th grade. Robert F. Wagner, Jr. Secondary School for Arts and Technology admits through one program, and each one has its own admissions method:
- Arts and Technology for New StudentsEd. Opt.96 seats
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.
- 2Educational Option programs fill in equal shares across three reading levels, half by the school's ranking and half by lottery.
- 3Rank 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
Tue, Nov 3, · 12:30 PM · Virtual
Open house
Tue, Nov 3, · 1:20 PM · Virtual
From the MySchools admissions calendar, checked weekly.
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Frequently Asked Questions
- Is Robert F. Wagner, Jr. Secondary School for Arts and Technology a good school?
- On Motley, Robert F. Wagner, Jr. Secondary School for Arts and Technology earns an overall rating of 74/100 — 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 above the District 24 average. Its high school grades have their own rating, 74/100, from graduation and Regents results.
- What grades does Robert F. Wagner, Jr. Secondary School for Arts and Technology serve?
- Robert F. Wagner, Jr. Secondary School for Arts and Technology serves grades 6 to 12.
- How do students get into Robert F. Wagner, Jr. Secondary School for Arts and Technology?
- Robert F. Wagner, Jr. Secondary School for Arts and Technology uses the Educational Option (Ed-Opt) method, ranking applicants across performance levels so seats go to a mix of abilities.
- Is Robert F. Wagner, Jr. Secondary School for Arts and Technology public, charter, or private?
- Robert F. Wagner, Jr. Secondary School for Arts and Technology is a public school in NYC Community School District 24.
- What neighborhood is Robert F. Wagner, Jr. Secondary School for Arts and Technology in?
- Robert F. Wagner, Jr. Secondary School for Arts and Technology is in Sunnyside, Queens.