Tag Young Scholars, New York NY - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Tag Young Scholars

TAG Young Scholars sits on East 109th Street in East Harlem, a K-8 public school within New York City Geographic District 4. It draws families from a dense, transit-rich part of Manhattan where mixed-use blocks, subway access, and walkable streets define daily life. The school is not a charter and carries no magnet designation; it operates as a standard public school within one of the city's most active district geographies.

The academic picture here is genuinely striking. On the New York State Testing Program, proficiency in both math and ELA runs extremely high across every tested grade from third through seventh, with virtually all students scoring at the proficient-or-above level in most years and grades. Science results at the fifth-grade level are similarly strong. These are not modest margins above the bar; they reflect near-universal proficiency across multiple grade levels and subjects, a pattern that places the school in the top quartile on overall proficiency relative to districts in New York County. For context, that comparison set covers a wide range of schools across Manhattan, and TAG Young Scholars sits well above the midpoint. Eighth-grade math and science show no tested students in the data, which likely reflects how the school's enrollment is distributed rather than a gap in outcomes, though a parent interested in the eighth-grade experience may want to ask the school directly about how that cohort is structured.

The school enrolls several hundred students across kindergarten through eighth grade, making it a moderately sized K-8 by New York City standards. The student body is racially and ethnically diverse: Asian students make up the largest share, with Hispanic, white, and Black students each representing meaningful portions of the population. Students from multiple backgrounds and two or more races are also present. Roughly a quarter of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which is below the citywide average and suggests a relatively less economically disadvantaged population, though still economically mixed. Data on English learners and students with IEPs was not reported in what we received, so families with children who receive special education services or English language support should ask the school directly about those resources.

A graduation rate does not apply here, as the school serves only through eighth grade.

Two district-level curriculum shifts are worth knowing about. Under the publicly reported NYC Reads mandate, District 4 elementary schools moved in the 2024-25 school year to one of three approved phonics-based reading curricula, replacing the prior balanced literacy approach. That change is already in place and affects how reading is taught in the school's early grades. On the math side, a parallel initiative called NYC Solves is bringing standardized, problem-based math materials to middle schools across the city; District 4 middle schools are slated for that rollout in the 2026-27 school year. Families choosing TAG Young Scholars now should expect both of these shifts to shape the academic experience their children encounter.

The surrounding East Harlem neighborhood is woven into a broader city fabric of subway lines, libraries, parks, and mixed commercial-residential blocks. Housing costs near the school's zip code sit well above both state and national medians, and rents have moved upward over the past year, reflecting the broader pressure across Manhattan's housing market. That context matters for families relocating to be near the school; the zip code is an expensive one by most measures.

For families seeking an academically high-performing public K-8 in Manhattan, with a diverse student body and access to the full sweep of New York City's transit and civic infrastructure, TAG Young Scholars presents a profile worth examining closely. The proficiency data across the tested grades is among the strongest in the county comparison set, and that is a substantive, documented strength.

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Academic performance

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

New York Regents Exams

4 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	54	100.0%
Ela	53	98.0%
Science	53	100.0%
Social Studies	53	100.0%

Math

Grade 3100%

School 100% · District 46% · ▲ 54 pts above district

▲ 41 pts above state median · ▲ 42 pts above county median

Grade 499%

School 99% · District 49% · ▲ 50 pts above district

▲ 41 pts above state median · ▲ 38 pts above county median

Grade 598%

School 98% · District 44% · ▲ 54 pts above district

▲ 47 pts above state median · ▲ 43 pts above county median

Grade 692%

School 92% · District 45% · ▲ 47 pts above district

▲ 47 pts above state median · ▲ 47 pts above county median

Grade 798%

School 98% · District 45% · ▲ 53 pts above district

▲ 45 pts above state median · ▲ 40 pts above county median

Grade 80%

School 0% · District 38% · ▼ 38 pts below district

▼ 37 pts below state median · even with county median

English language arts

Grade 396%

School 96% · District 44% · ▲ 53 pts above district

▲ 44 pts above state median · ▲ 40 pts above county median

Grade 499%

School 99% · District 52% · ▲ 47 pts above district

▲ 46 pts above state median · ▲ 36 pts above county median

Grade 5100%

School 100% · District 52% · ▲ 48 pts above district

▲ 46 pts above state median · ▲ 35 pts above county median

Grade 697%

School 97% · District 46% · ▲ 51 pts above district

▲ 52 pts above state median · ▲ 50 pts above county median

Grade 7100%

School 100% · District 50% · ▲ 50 pts above district

▲ 53 pts above state median · ▲ 44 pts above county median

Grade 8100%

School 100% · District 48% · ▲ 52 pts above district

▲ 52 pts above state median · ▲ 47 pts above county median

Science

Grade 596%

School 96% · District 37% · ▲ 59 pts above district

▲ 55 pts above state median · ▲ 50 pts above county median

Grade 80%

School 0% · District 30% · ▼ 30 pts below district

▼ 33 pts below state median · ▼ 8 pts below county median

This schoolNEW YORK CITY GEOGRAPHIC DISTRICT # 4, 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 3Lower-income88%Higher-income100%13 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income100%Higher-income98%2 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income100%Higher-income100%0 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income100%Higher-income96%4 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income100%Higher-income100%0 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income100%Higher-income100%0 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income100%Higher-income100%0 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income100%Higher-income98%2 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income92%Higher-income100%8 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income77%Higher-income98%21 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income89%Higher-income100%11 pp gap