Ms 297, New York NY - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Ms 297

MS 297 is a public middle school in lower Manhattan, serving grades six through eight in a densely built downtown neighborhood. The school sits at 75 Morton Street, in an area where residential and commercial uses are layered within the same buildings and block life is activated by both foot traffic and mixed-income housing. This is a neighborhood embedded in the city's transit network, not set apart on a campus.

The school enrolls a student body that reflects the city's demographic complexity. About half the students identify as Hispanic, with roughly a quarter white, and smaller shares of Black, Asian, and multiracial students. More than three in five students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating a majority from low-income households. No data on the rate of students with individualized education plans (IEPs) or English learners was available in the school's reported record.

On state assessments in math and English language arts, MS 297's proficiency picture is mixed and shows grade-level variation. In sixth-grade math, about a third of students tested met proficiency. Seventh-grade math climbed to about half proficient. Eighth-grade math drops sharply, with proficiency near one in ten. English language arts tells a somewhat steadier story: sixth grade near two in five, seventh grade near half, and eighth grade just over four in ten proficient. In eighth-grade science, about a quarter of students achieved proficiency. Test participation rates, particularly in eighth-grade math and science, fall short of the full enrollment count, running around three in five to four in five, which a parent may want to look into further with the school.

Compared with other districts in New York County, MS 297's overall proficiency index places it in the bottom quartile of county districts. The school does not report a four-year graduation rate, because it does not serve high school grades; chronic absenteeism data was not available either.

The school exists within Geographic District 2, one of New York City's community school districts, which operates within the city's broader context of ongoing change in gifted and talented admissions. The G&T program for younger grades has shifted from a standardized test to teacher nomination and lottery, though the program remains administratively separate from standard admissions. The future structure of these programs, particularly for elementary entry, remains unsettled as of late 2025.

Housing in the school's postal area runs well above national and state median home values, reflecting the downtown Manhattan market; monthly rents are also substantially higher than national norms, consistent with a tight, expensive market in lower Manhattan. The neighborhood is walkable, dense, and well served by subway and bus transit. Large employers in the surrounding city include finance, technology, professional services, and tourism-related businesses, though the school's direct ties to any workforce pipeline or career pathways were not described in available data.

The school's program offerings, staffing, discipline policies, and attendance protocols were not detailed in the data provided. A parent considering MS 297 would do well to contact the school directly to understand how it supports students academically, what electives or specialized programming it offers, and what the day-to-day learning environment looks and feels like.

See more original research from School Decision →

Academic performance

How students perform on state tests, by grade, set against the district.

New York Regents Exams

2 courses reported · 2024-25

End-of-course exams required for a New York Regents diploma. Each row shows the cohort size and the share of students scoring at the proficient level or higher.

Course	Students tested	% proficient
Math	23	87.0%
Science	23	91.0%

Math

Grade 636%

School 36% · District 71% · ▼ 36 pts below district

▼ 9 pts below state median · ▼ 9 pts below county median

Grade 748%

School 48% · District 80% · ▼ 32 pts below district

▼ 5 pts below state median · ▼ 10 pts below county median

Grade 89%

School 9% · District 51% · ▼ 42 pts below district

▼ 28 pts below state median · ▲ 9 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 639%

School 39% · District 74% · ▼ 35 pts below district

▼ 6 pts below state median · ▼ 7 pts below county median

Grade 748%

School 48% · District 77% · ▼ 29 pts below district

even with state median · ▼ 8 pts below county median

Grade 845%

School 45% · District 77% · ▼ 31 pts below district

▼ 3 pts below state median · ▼ 7 pts below county median

Science

Grade 824%

School 24% · District 57% · ▼ 33 pts below district

▼ 9 pts below state median · ▲ 16 pts above county median

This schoolNEW YORK CITY GEOGRAPHIC DISTRICT # 2, same grade

Graduation rate (ACGR) reflects the federally published Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate for the most recent year available. We refresh this data annually at the close of each academic year in June. The federal source publishes a banded rate (for example, "90-94%") instead of an exact number for cohorts small enough to risk identifying individual students. The state distribution chart, where shown, plots every school in the state with a published rate or band; schools whose rate is federally suppressed are excluded. Where the federal source publishes a band rather than an exact rate, the school is placed within its band using a stable, ID-derived offset, so its position is consistent across visits.

Proficiency by household income

English language arts

Grade 6Lower-income27%Higher-income86%59 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income36%Higher-income78%42 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income24%Higher-income81%57 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 6Lower-income26%Higher-income79%53 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income38%Higher-income78%40 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income5%Higher-income27%22 pp gap