Rochester Prep Recognized by New York State

Rochester Prep West Campus is the only school in the city of Rochester and one of only 103 K-8 schools outside of New York City to be identified by the New York State Education Department as a 2018-19 Recognition School.

Among schools who serve greater than 75% of their students from low income backgrounds, Rochester Prep West Campus was one of only four K-8 Recognition schools outside of New York City to achieve the distinction. It is one of only 3 elementary and middle schools in all of Monroe County to get the designation and the only one that serves a population greater than 50% low-income.

Under New York’s Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) Plan, 2018-19 Recognition Schools have high academic achievement, student growth and graduation rate, and have made progress during the 2017-18 school year.

“We are taking a more holistic approach to school and student achievement under ESSA and I am excited to recognize these schools for their accomplishments and progress,” state Education Commissioner MaryEllen Elia said. “I commend the teachers, administrators, staff, parents and students for the hard work and dedication they bring each day—it is truly paying off.”

Recognition Schools are identified as such because they are among the top performing under ESSA for performance, student growth and/or graduation rate; met or exceeded either the school or state measures of interim progress for English language arts and mathematics, rate of Chronic Absenteeism, and College, Career, and Civic Readiness; and met the federally required 95 percent participation rate in the English language arts and mathematics assessments.

“The teachers and administrators at these Recognition Schools have taken to heart the critical mission of educating the whole child,” Board of Regents Chancellor Betty A. Rosa said. “Our priority is fostering equity for our children across New York. These schools serve as models of the levels of performance we seek for all schools to be able to achieve in the future.”

Of the schools identified as Recognition Schools, 241 are located in New York City, 280 are located in the rest of the state and 41 are public charter schools.

“We are extremely proud of this recognition which is reflective of the hard work our students put into learning every single day and the incredible efforts and talents of our teachers, staff, and school leaders,” said Paul Powell, Assistant Superintendent of Rochester Prep. “This is further proof that our students are on track to get to and through college.”

Rochester Prep West Campus students, who predominantly qualify for free or reduced price lunch, match the academic performance of wealthier students across the state. Its third and fourth graders ranked #3 in Math and #4 in English Language Arts in all of Monroe County in last year’s state exams.

Rochester Prep, which serves more than 2,000 students in Rochester in grades K-12, is part of Uncommon Schools, a network of high-performing charter schools whose mission is to ensure students enter into, succeed in and graduate from college. Uncommon Schools serves 19,000 students in New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts.