Is Junior High School 217 Robert A Van Wyck a good school?

Junior High School 217 Robert A Van Wyck ranks 1002 nd of 1504 New York middle schools. SchoolDigger rates this school 2 stars out of 5.

How many students attend Junior High School 217 Robert A Van Wyck?

In the 2023-24 school year, 1,273 students attended Junior High School 217 Robert A Van Wyck.

What is the racial makeup of Junior High School 217 Robert A Van Wyck?

Students at Junior High School 217 Robert A Van Wyck are 52% Hispanic, 26% Asian, 13% African American, 4% White, 4% American Indian, 1% Two or more races.

What high school do graduates of Junior High School 217 Robert A Van Wyck attend?

Students who attend Junior High School 217 Robert A Van Wyck usually go on to attend Hillcrest High School

Junior High School 217 Robert A Van Wyck

Summary:

Junior High School 217 Robert A Van Wyck is a public magnet middle school located in Jamaica, New York, serving grades 6-8 with an enrollment of 1,348 students. The school is part of the New York City Geographic District #28, which is ranked 429 out of 865 districts in New York and has a 3-star rating from SchoolDigger.

While the school has a relatively high per-student spending of $17,342, its academic performance has consistently underperformed compared to the district and the state of New York. In the 2023-2024 school year, the school's proficiency rates were 36.96% in 6th grade ELA, 42.97% in 7th grade ELA, and 38.14% in 6th grade Math, compared to the district's 49.26%, 56.31%, and 52.29%, respectively. The school's performance also varies significantly across different student subgroups, with Asian and Hispanic students having the lowest proficiency rates, ranking in the bottom 25% of New York middle schools in these subgroups.

When compared to nearby schools within the same district, Junior High School 210 Elizabeth Blackwell and Junior High School 8 Richard S Grossley both have higher proficiency rates in ELA and Math than Junior High School 217 Robert A Van Wyck. However, the school does have some bright spots, such as a 100% proficiency rate in Regents/U.S. History and Government for the 2023-2024 school year, which is significantly higher than the district and state averages. Despite these positive outliers, the school's statewide ranking has been declining over the past several years, from a high of 483 out of 1,242 New York middle schools in the 2020-2021 school year to 1,002 out of 1,504 in the 2023-2024 school year.

Detail:

Public, Magnet 6-8

85-05 144th St
Jamaica, NY 11435-3103

(718) 657-1120

District: New York City Geographic District #28

SchoolDigger Rank:
1002^nd of 1,504 New York Middle Schools

Per Pupil Expenditures: $17,342

Students who attend Junior High School 217 Robert A Van Wyck usually attend:

High:

Hillcrest High School

Feeder schools for Junior High School 217 Robert A Van Wyck:

Elementary:	Ps 117 J Keld/Briarwood School
	Ps 182 Samantha Smith
	Ps 54 Hillside
	Ps 82 Hammond
	More...
	Ps 86

Student/teacher ratio: 14.5

Number of students: 1,273

Racial breakdown:

Hispanic:

51.7%

Asian:

25.6%

African American:

12.6%

Free/discounted lunch recipients: 84.8%

See top rated New York middle schools

Compare Junior High School 217 Robert A Van Wyck to nearby middle schools!

Performance Trends

Compare Details Junior High School 217 Robert A Van Wyck ranks worse than 66.6% of middle schools in New York. It also ranks 6^th among 8 ranked middle schools in the New York City Geographic District #28. (See more...)

Compare Details In 2024 the calculated Average Standard Score was 35.75. (See more...)

Student Body

Compare Details Student population at Junior High School 217 Robert A Van Wyck is diverse. Racial makeup is: Hispanic (51.7%), Asian (25.6%), African American (12.6%). (See more...)

Compare Details 84.8% of students are receiving a free or discounted lunch. (See more...)

Compare Details (See more...)

Teachers

Compare Details The student/teacher ratio at Junior High School 217 Robert A Van Wyck is 14.5. 5 middle schools in the New York City Geographic District #28 have better student/teacher ratios. (See more...)

Compare Junior High School 217 Robert A Van Wyck employs 87.5 full-time teachers.

Finance

Compare Details The average total spent per student at Junior High School 217 Robert A Van Wyck is $17,342. 5 middle schools in the New York City Geographic District #28 spend more per student.

Schooldigger 2024 Rankings:

Junior High School 217 Robert A Van Wyck:

SchoolDigger ranks Junior High School 217 Robert A Van Wyck 1002^nd of 1504 New York public middle schools. (See Junior High School 217 Robert A Van Wyck in the ranking list.)

Middle School Test Score Ratings by Student Subgroup:

English Language Learner students:

Special Education students:

Low Socio Economic Status students:

Homeless students:

Female students:

Male students:

Asian students:

African American students:

Hispanic students:

Native American students:

White students:

New York City Geographic District #28:

SchoolDigger ranks New York City Geographic District #28 429^th of 865 New York school districts. (See district ranking list.)

Average Rating:

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Rank History for Junior High School 217 Robert A Van Wyck

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Rank History for all students at Junior High School 217 Robert A Van Wyck

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Middle Schools	NY State Percentile
2006	39.60	753^rd	1095	31.2%
2007	36.92	800^th	1123	28.8%
2008	35.20	870^th	1185	26.6%
2009	36.96	901^st	1224	26.4%
2010	33.97	897^th	1243	27.8%
2011	38.12	867^th	1295	33.1%
2012	40.96	867^th	1337	35.2%
2013	40.45	814^th	1373	40.7%
2014	40.23	839^th	1401	40.1%
2015	44.15	773^rd	1407	45.1%
2016	40.81	833^rd	1429	41.7%
2017	49.00	715^th	1455	50.9%
2018	44.79	775^th	1438	46.1%
2019	41.77	797^th	1439	44.6%
2021	55.07	483^rd	1242	61.1%
2022	41.82	859^th	1479	41.9%
2023	42.77	877^th	1500	41.5%
2024	35.75	1002^nd	1504	33.4%

See the entire list of New York Middle School Rankings!

Rank History for English Language Learner students at Junior High School 217 Robert A Van Wyck

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Middle Schools	NY State Percentile
2018	41.59	247^th	503	50.9%
2019	35.67	296^th	473	37.4%
2022	39.44	327^th	581	43.7%
2023	37.52	351^st	591	40.6%
2024	39.56	349^th	615	43.3%

See the entire list of Best New York Middle Schools for English Language Learner Students!

Rank History for Special Education students at Junior High School 217 Robert A Van Wyck

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Middle Schools	NY State Percentile
2018	53.55	381^st	1170	67.4%
2019	43.64	528^th	1139	53.6%
2021	45.78	224^th	522	57.1%
2022	43.48	618^th	1283	51.8%
2023	44.63	622^nd	1307	52.4%
2024	44.02	627^th	1303	51.9%

See the entire list of Best New York Middle Schools for Special Education Students!

Rank History for Low Socio Economic Status students at Junior High School 217 Robert A Van Wyck

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Middle Schools	NY State Percentile
2018	53.46	473^rd	1245	62.0%
2019	45.81	574^th	1241	53.7%
2021	71.33	186^th	935	80.1%
2022	50.94	536^th	1306	59.0%
2023	53.58	529^th	1288	58.9%
2024	46.36	645^th	1296	50.2%

See the entire list of Best New York Middle Schools for Low Socio Economic Status Students!

Rank History for Homeless students at Junior High School 217 Robert A Van Wyck

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Middle Schools	NY State Percentile
2018	41.47	251^st	457	45.1%
2019	41.05	224^th	392	42.9%
2021	54.13	20^th	49	59.2%
2022	42.88	262^nd	487	46.2%
2023	51.29	225^th	543	58.6%
2024	41.76	333^rd	594	43.9%

See the entire list of Best New York Middle Schools for Homeless Students!

Rank History for Female students at Junior High School 217 Robert A Van Wyck

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Middle Schools	NY State Percentile
2018	40.89	828^th	1353	38.8%
2019	42.11	790^th	1370	42.3%
2021	50.58	483^rd	1066	54.7%
2022	40.76	853^rd	1454	41.3%
2023	40.46	890^th	1463	39.2%
2024	35.93	980^th	1465	33.1%

See the entire list of Best New York Middle Schools for Female Students!

Rank History for Male students at Junior High School 217 Robert A Van Wyck

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Middle Schools	NY State Percentile
2018	48.90	668^th	1352	50.6%
2019	41.50	750^th	1366	45.1%
2021	54.78	426^th	1071	60.2%
2022	43.79	782^nd	1455	46.3%
2023	45.93	771^st	1464	47.3%
2024	37.40	946^th	1464	35.4%

See the entire list of Best New York Middle Schools for Male Students!

Rank History for Asian students at Junior High School 217 Robert A Van Wyck

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Middle Schools	NY State Percentile
2018	28.06	300^th	374	19.8%
2019	28.98	295^th	369	20.1%
2021	34.18	184^th	236	22.0%
2022	25.71	315^th	381	17.3%
2023	32.10	308^th	388	20.6%
2024	28.60	323^rd	396	18.4%

See the entire list of Best New York Middle Schools for Asian Students!

Rank History for African American students at Junior High School 217 Robert A Van Wyck

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Middle Schools	NY State Percentile
2018	55.52	230^th	663	65.3%
2019	50.10	267^th	653	59.1%
2021	59.12	81^st	253	68.0%
2022	48.30	317^th	706	55.1%
2023	58.30	248^th	696	64.4%
2024	48.78	327^th	705	53.6%

See the entire list of Best New York Middle Schools for African American Students!

Rank History for Hispanic students at Junior High School 217 Robert A Van Wyck

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Middle Schools	NY State Percentile
2018	33.62	561^st	810	30.7%
2019	28.71	621^st	826	24.8%
2021	45.28	228^th	449	49.2%
2022	36.24	590^th	914	35.4%
2023	31.24	681^st	943	27.8%
2024	28.98	716^th	953	24.9%

See the entire list of Best New York Middle Schools for Hispanic Students!

Rank History for Native American students at Junior High School 217 Robert A Van Wyck

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Middle Schools	NY State Percentile
2018	53.00	7^th	25	72.0%
2019	42.77	7^th	18	61.1%
2021	84.86	2^nd	10	80.0%
2022	61.66	8^th	24	66.7%
2023	62.34	6^th	20	70.0%
2024	62.01	5^th	21	76.2%

See the entire list of Best New York Middle Schools for Native American Students!

Rank History for White students at Junior High School 217 Robert A Van Wyck

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Middle Schools	NY State Percentile
2018	50.25	379^th	763	50.3%
2019	59.44	297^th	716	58.5%
2022	14.81	692^nd	748	7.5%
2023	53.46	367^th	772	52.5%
2024	47.26	416^th	778	46.5%

See the entire list of Best New York Middle Schools for White Students!

Data source: test scores: NY State Education Department, rankings: SchoolDigger.com

As you review the school rankings data, please be aware that some of the information from certain demographics is missing. The reason for this omission is that the data has been redacted from the source data itself due to low population samples in these specific demographic groups.

Redacting data from low population samples is a necessary step to ensure the reliability and accuracy of the results, as small sample sizes may not be representative of the broader population. Additionally, this measure helps protect the privacy of individuals belonging to these demographic groups.

Data source: NY State Education Department

Review counts

All ratings (Avg rating: 1)

100%

Reviews:

by a citizen on FaceBook
Tuesday, December 1, 2009

It was the worst rated school when I use to go there during the late 1980's.During the summer of 1987 a gang of more than 20 members who were mostly black and hispanic beat up my 2 friends very badly almost killing them.Nobody took the incident very seriously or did anything about it.Alot of kids who went to 217 use to come from sutphin blvd and south jamaica.They use to get together forming groups and causing trouble in school.All Iam trying to say is that I had the worst and most traumatic experience at 217.I graduated in 1988. Close Quote

Enrollment information for Junior High School 217 Robert A Van Wyck

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Year	White	African American	Asian	Hispanic	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Total
1989	199	396	326	608	0	n/a	n/a	1529
1990	202	385	311	623	1	n/a	n/a	1522
1991	207	383	316	642	2	n/a	n/a	1550
1992	156	382	384	628	4	n/a	n/a	1554
1993	124	396	410	599	10	n/a	n/a	1539
1994	109	420	384	642	15	n/a	n/a	1570
1995	112	364	297	470	16	n/a	n/a	1259
1996	112	364	297	470	16	n/a	n/a	1259
1997	112	367	319	465	5	n/a	n/a	1268
1998	120	388	325	501	6	n/a	n/a	1340
1999	105	302	328	471	1	n/a	n/a	1207
2000	89	268	340	490	2	n/a	n/a	1189
2001	98	291	357	504	1	n/a	n/a	1251
2002	85	295	457	633	3	n/a	n/a	1473
2003	85	295	457	633	3	n/a	n/a	1473
2004	71	237	449	566	3	n/a	n/a	1326
2005	65	219	426	609	4	n/a	n/a	1323
2006	67	210	412	538	4	n/a	n/a	1231
2007	57	202	468	531	1	n/a	n/a	1259
2008	48	187	440	533	7	n/a	n/a	1215
2009	40	162	453	524	6	n/a	n/a	1185
2010	68	197	476	577	8	n/a	n/a	1326
2011	67	206	521	574	8	0	0	1376
2012	89	303	582	669	14	12	0	1669
2013	107	276	613	690	16	8	1	1711
2014	91	239	604	685	17	0	0	1636
2015	95	198	594	699	21	0	0	1607
2016	91	210	585	654	29	0	2	1571
2017	79	240	610	645	37	18	5	1634
2018	63	268	568	649	54	19	7	1628
2019	66	262	540	691	68	29	11	1667
2020	69	216	520	790	66	32	10	1703
2021	61	177	502	733	75	27	11	1586
2022	46	161	438	676	78	20	5	1424
2023	50	190	365	647	66	16	14	1348
2024	57	161	326	658	47	11	13	1273

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Enrollment/Ethnicity

For more information about how the Department of Education defines ethnicity, see Defining Race and Ethnicity Data, National Center for Education Statistics

Students eligible for free or discounted lunch at Junior High School 217 Robert A Van Wyck

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Year	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/Teacher ratio	% Free/Discounted Lunch
1989	1529	79.6	19.2	n/a
1990	1522	83.6	18.2	n/a
1991	1550	80.4	19.2	n/a
1992	1554	77.7	20.0	n/a
1993	1539	74.7	20.6	n/a
1994	1570	74.8	21.0	n/a
1995	1259	69.0	18.2	n/a
1996	1259	69.0	18.2	n/a
1997	1268	69.0	18.4	69
1998	1340	72.1	18.6	68.5
1999	1207	73.1	16.5	75.3
2000	1189	79.0	15.1	81.8
2001	1251	80.0	15.6	78.8
2002	1473	n/a	n/a	n/a
2003	1473	n/a	n/a	n/a
2004	1326	n/a	n/a	n/a
2005	1323	92.0	14.4	0
2006	1231	94.0	13.1	95.5
2007	1259	83.0	15.2	83.8
2008	1215	78.0	15.6	82.6
2009	1185	75.0	15.8	85.1
2010	1326	79.9	16.5	n/a
2011	1376	82.9	16.5	90.2
2012	1669	90.9	18.3	90.4
2013	1711	91.9	18.6	89.7
2014	1636	94.9	17.2	98.3
2015	1607	91.0	17.6	55.9
2016	1571	84.0	18.7	53
2017	1634	86.1	18.9	51.3
2018	1628	89.9	18.0	70.3
2019	1667	99.9	16.6	70.3
2020	1703	99.0	17.2	74.3
2021	1586	105.5	15.0	78.9
2022	1424	103.8	13.7	77.4
2023	1348	95.5	14.1	79.6
2024	1273	87.5	14.5	84.8

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Students eligible for discounted/free lunch:

The National School Lunch Program (NSLP) provides low-cost or free meals to students in U.S. public and nonprofit private schools based on household income. Those with incomes below 130% of the poverty line receive free lunch, while those between 130% and 185% qualify for reduced-price lunch. The percentage of students receiving free or reduced-price lunch serves as a marker for poverty, as it reflects the socioeconomic status of families in a given school or district. A higher FRPL rate typically indicates a higher concentration of low-income families, suggesting that the school or district may face additional challenges in providing adequate resources and support for student success.

Student/Teacher Ratio Junior High School 217 Robert A Van Wyck

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Year	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/Teacher ratio	% Free/Discounted Lunch
1989	1529	79.6	19.2	n/a
1990	1522	83.6	18.2	n/a
1991	1550	80.4	19.2	n/a
1992	1554	77.7	20.0	n/a
1993	1539	74.7	20.6	n/a
1994	1570	74.8	21.0	n/a
1995	1259	69.0	18.2	n/a
1996	1259	69.0	18.2	n/a
1997	1268	69.0	18.4	69
1998	1340	72.1	18.6	68.5
1999	1207	73.1	16.5	75.3
2000	1189	79.0	15.1	81.8
2001	1251	80.0	15.6	78.8
2002	1473	n/a	n/a	n/a
2003	1473	n/a	n/a	n/a
2004	1326	n/a	n/a	n/a
2005	1323	92.0	14.4	0
2006	1231	94.0	13.1	95.5
2007	1259	83.0	15.2	83.8
2008	1215	78.0	15.6	82.6
2009	1185	75.0	15.8	85.1
2010	1326	79.9	16.5	n/a
2011	1376	82.9	16.5	90.2
2012	1669	90.9	18.3	90.4
2013	1711	91.9	18.6	89.7
2014	1636	94.9	17.2	98.3
2015	1607	91.0	17.6	55.9
2016	1571	84.0	18.7	53
2017	1634	86.1	18.9	51.3
2018	1628	89.9	18.0	70.3
2019	1667	99.9	16.6	70.3
2020	1703	99.0	17.2	74.3
2021	1586	105.5	15.0	78.9
2022	1424	103.8	13.7	77.4
2023	1348	95.5	14.1	79.6
2024	1273	87.5	14.5	84.8

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Student-Teacher Ratio

Student/teacher ratio is calculated by dividing the total number of students by the total number of full-time equivalent teachers. Please note that a smaller student/teacher ratio does not necessarily translate to smaller class size. In some instances, schools hire teachers part time, and some teachers are hired for specialized instruction with very small class sizes. These and other factors contribute to the student/teacher ratio. Note: For private schools, Student/teacher ratio may not include Pre-Kindergarten.

Immunization Rates