Redwood Middle School, Jamaica NY

Original Research by School Decision on Redwood Middle School

Redwood Middle School sits on Guy R. Brewer Boulevard in Jamaica, Queens, serving grades six through eight as part of New York City Geographic District 28. The school draws from one of the borough's most energetic neighborhoods: a dense downtown core anchored by Jamaica Station, one of the LIRR's busiest hubs, ringed by residential blocks of rowhouses and small apartment buildings, and animated by Caribbean, Bangladeshi, Latin American, and South Asian street commerce. Publicly reported plans to relocate Queens High School for the Sciences to a new, larger building in Jamaica within District 28 make the local educational pipeline worth tracking for families thinking ahead to high school.

The student body is predominantly Black and Hispanic, with smaller Asian and other populations. A very substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting the economic character of the surrounding neighborhood. Data on English learner enrollment and students with IEPs was not available in the data provided.

On the New York State Testing Program, proficiency results vary by grade and subject in ways a parent should look at carefully. In sixth grade, fewer than a third of students tested reached proficiency in either math or ELA. Seventh grade results are meaningfully stronger: more than half of seventh graders tested reached proficiency in math, and close to half did so in ELA. Eighth grade ELA showed roughly half of tested students at proficiency, which is a relative high point across the school's results. The eighth-grade science assessment, administered only to that grade, showed about three in ten tested students reaching proficiency. No eighth-grade math results were reported, with a tested count of zero, and the data does not explain why; a parent would want to ask the school directly about that gap. Participation rates also vary, running high in seventh-grade ELA and lower in sixth-grade ELA and eighth-grade science, which affects how fully the reported proficiency figures represent the full cohort.

Placed against other districts in Queens County, Redwood's overall proficiency index across tested subjects and grades falls in the bottom quartile of the seven schools in the comparison set that had enough data to be ranked. That position is worth naming plainly without overstating it: the school's tested population sits in a demographic and economic context that correlates with lower average proficiency statewide, and a parent may want to ask the school what academic supports are in place for students who are not yet at grade level. Multi-year trend data was not available, so it is not possible from this data to say whether results are improving, flat, or declining.

No program offerings were listed in the data. A graduation rate does not apply here because the school serves only middle grades. Chronic absenteeism data was not available.

The district carries two changes families should know about. NYC Reads, the citywide mandate requiring schools to adopt one of three approved literacy curriculums grounded in the science of reading, is now being extended toward middle schools with a target of fall 2027. That shift is publicly reported as firm district policy. The city also expanded Gifted and Talented programming to all 32 districts, adding a third-grade entry point and shifting to a screening model rather than a single high-stakes test, which has broadened access to accelerated elementary pathways in District 28.

On housing, the zip code that covers this part of Jamaica carries home values well above the New York State median and substantially above the national median, with recent year-over-year appreciation. Rents are also elevated. Jamaica is in the middle of a large residential development push, with multiple mixed-income towers rising near the transit hub and a recently approved rezoning intended to add a substantial number of new homes, including a meaningful affordable component; a major mixed-income building is publicly reported to be under construction with completion expected in 2028. For a family considering this neighborhood, that growth trajectory means the surrounding community is changing and that demand for school seats may shift in coming years.

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Academic performance

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

New York Regents Exams

3 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	58	83.0%
Ela	24	67.0%
Science	21	95.0%

Math

Grade 629%

School 29% · District 55% · ▼ 26 pts below district

▼ 16 pts below state median · ▼ 21 pts below county median

Grade 756%

School 56% · District 59% · ▼ 3 pts below district

▲ 3 pts above state median · ▼ 8 pts below county median

Grade 80%

School 0% · District 34% · ▼ 34 pts below district

▼ 37 pts below state median · ▼ 28 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 633%

School 33% · District 56% · ▼ 23 pts below district

▼ 12 pts below state median · ▼ 23 pts below county median

Grade 746%

School 46% · District 55% · ▼ 10 pts below district

▼ 2 pts below state median · ▼ 12 pts below county median

Grade 852%

School 52% · District 56% · ▼ 4 pts below district

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

Science

Grade 831%

School 31% · District 38% · ▼ 7 pts below district

▼ 2 pts below state median · ▲ 7 pts above county median

This schoolNEW YORK CITY GEOGRAPHIC DISTRICT #28, 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-income30%Higher-income50%20 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income46%Higher-income42%4 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income54%Higher-income42%12 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 6Lower-income24%Higher-income67%43 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income57%Higher-income50%7 pp gap