Tompkins Square Middle School

ELA proficiency is 49% and math is 43% — both a few points below the District 1 averages of roughly 52% and 47%. Both subjects peaked around 2019 (57.9% ELA, 54.3% math) and have trended down since, with math dipping as low as 42% in 2022 before partially recovering. The most encouraging signal is the grade-by-grade progression: 6th graders come in at 40% ELA and 33% math, but by 8th grade they're hitting 58% and 53% — this school clearly develops students over time. Overall score of 1.84/4 sits below the district's 1.98 average, putting Tompkins Square in the middle of its peer group rather than at the top.

Teachers rate their own instruction quality at 97% — well above the district average of 87% — and report strong trust in colleagues and leadership (91% across the board). Parents are less enthusiastic: satisfaction sits at 86%, just below the district's 88%. Attendance is solid at 90%, beating the district's 89% average, though chronic absenteeism is 60.7%, which is high. The discipline picture is the flag: suspensions jumped from 1 in each of the prior two years to 9 in 2023-24, pushing the suspension rate to 3% — well above the district's 0.4%. Only 11 teachers responded to the climate survey, so those trust numbers come from a small sample and should be read with that in mind.

The student body is genuinely mixed: 45% Hispanic, 23% White, 17% Black, 13% Asian, and 2% multiracial, giving the school a diversity index of 74%. About 30% of students have IEPs — notably higher than typical — and the school offers ELL support. The economic need index of 63 reflects a student body that includes a meaningful share of lower-income families. The neighborhood around the school tells a different story: it's a relatively affluent, highly educated area, but one where families with kids are the exception rather than the rule, so the school's population is drawn from a wider geography than the immediate blocks.

The East Village is a dense, walkable neighborhood where the typical block holds young professionals more often than school-age children — only 6.6% of households here have kids, the lowest among the surrounding census tracts. Median household income is about $87,700, with a 25% poverty rate that reflects the area's mix of long-time residents and newer arrivals, and nearly 60% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher. Homeownership is rare (14%) and home values are well into seven figures, which says a lot about who's settled here versus who's renting. For families, the practical reality is that the commute matters — most kids won't be walking in from the block.

Families reach the school via the Delancey St-Essex St station (served by the F, M, J, and Z lines) about a 10-minute walk away, or the 1 Av station on the L line, about 11 minutes on foot.