Edward R Murrow High School, Brooklyn NY

Original Research by School Decision on Edward R Murrow High School

Edward R. Murrow High School sits on Avenue L in the Flatbush section of Brooklyn, a dense residential neighborhood of apartment buildings and tree-lined blocks that reflects the borough's layered, working-class and middle-class character. Getting around requires no car: Brooklyn as a whole is among the most walkable places in the country, with multiple subway lines and bus routes running through and around the neighborhood. Prospect Park, the borough's signature green space, is a reasonable trip away, and the Central Library at Grand Army Plaza is part of the same urban fabric.

Murrow is a large high school by any measure. It serves grades nine through twelve, and its enrollment puts it well above what most would think of as a typical high school. That scale is one of its defining features: the student body is genuinely multiracial, with substantial shares of white, Hispanic, Asian, and Black students, and smaller populations rounding out the mix. There is no single dominant group. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which places the school in the range of many large urban public high schools citywide.

On academics, the picture is incomplete in ways worth naming honestly. The state proficiency data that appears in this profile reflects eighth-grade assessments, which Murrow does not administer because it is a high school. Those zeroes in the testing fields are a data artifact of the grade band, not a school result. State testing data specific to Murrow's high school grades was not available in this profile. A graduation rate was also not reported in the data available here, so a parent who wants to track completion outcomes should ask the school or consult the New York State Education Department's published accountability data directly. Against the set of districts in Kings County, the school's proficiency index lands in the bottom quartile, but that figure is built from the same grade-mismatch data described above, so it should not be read as a meaningful academic signal for this school.

What the data does not provide, publicly reported sources help fill in to a degree. Murrow has long been known publicly as one of New York City's larger, relatively accessible screened high schools, with a reputation for strong arts programming and a broad range of electives. Families interested in whether that holds, and what the current course catalog looks like, should verify directly with the school, because program details were not included in the data provided here.

The parent district is New York City Geographic District #21, though for high schools the relevant governing body is the citywide Department of Education rather than the geographic district office. The city-level curriculum mandates worth knowing about are the NYC Solves math initiative, which has brought a standardized Algebra 1 curriculum to high schools, and NYC Reads, which governs literacy instruction at the elementary and middle levels and is being phased into middle schools by the 2027-28 school year. These are citywide shifts that touch instruction across the system rather than being Murrow-specific.

On housing, the zip code surrounding the school sits in a market where home values run well above both the state and national medians, and rents have been climbing at a meaningful pace year over year. Brooklyn-wide, new residential construction has been accelerating, particularly in Downtown Brooklyn and Williamsburg, though the Flatbush area where Murrow is located is a more established residential zone. Families relocating to be near the school should expect a competitive and expensive market.

For the student body and setting, Murrow's size and demographic mix will feel natural to some families and overwhelming to others. The school is embedded in a dense city neighborhood with no buffer of lawns or campus, which fits the borough's character. Chronic absenteeism data was not available, and IEP and English learner counts were also absent from this profile, so families with students who rely on those supports will want to ask the school directly about what services look like at this scale.

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Academic performance

State test results and graduation outcomes.

Graduation rate (ACGR)

87.0%Cohort of 854 students · Class of 2021

How this school compares to all schools in this state

Each dot is one school’s SY 2020-21 graduation rate, binned by integer rate. Taller columns mean more schools at that rate. This school is highlighted.

1,253 schools plotted. 14 additional schools' rates are federally suppressed and not shown. Data: EDFacts SY 2020-21.

Advanced Placement & IB

26 subjects offered · 2023-24

Each card is one AP or IB subject. The headline number is the share of students scoring 3 or higher on the exam — the threshold for college credit at most universities. The bar below each rate shows the underlying distribution across performance levels.

Score:12· no credit345· extremely well qualified

Math and Computer Science

Calculus AB

66 tested

53.0%

scored 3 or higher

Calculus BC

29 tested

51.7%

scored 3 or higher

Computer Science A

25 tested

28.0%

scored 3 or higher

Computer Science Principles

20 tested

75.0%

scored 3 or higher

Statistics

25 tested

40.0%

scored 3 or higher

Sciences

Biology

52 tested · Grade 10

53.8%

scored 3 or higher

Chemistry

19 tested · Grade 10

52.6%

scored 3 or higher

Environmental Science

82 tested · Grade 10

63.4%

scored 3 or higher

Physics 1

20 tested

50.0%

scored 3 or higher

English

Research

52 tested

90.4%

scored 3 or higher

Seminar

46 tested · Grade 10

76.1%

scored 3 or higher

History and Social Sciences

Comparative Government and Politics

95 tested

76.8%

scored 3 or higher

Macroeconomics

121 tested

54.5%

scored 3 or higher

Psychology

108 tested · Grade 10

36.1%

scored 3 or higher

U.S. History

151 tested

83.4%

scored 3 or higher

World Languages and Cultures

Chinese Language and Culture

44 tested · Grade 10

93.2%

scored 3 or higher

French Language and Culture

4 tested · Grade 10

0.0%

scored 3 or higher

German Language and Culture

1 tested · Grade 9

0.0%

scored 3 or higher

Italian Language and Culture

2 tested

0.0%

scored 3 or higher

Spanish Language and Culture

37 tested · Grade 10

94.6%

scored 3 or higher

Arts

Music Theory

18 tested

88.9%

scored 3 or higher

Other

Language and Comp

116 tested

55.2%

scored 3 or higher

Literature and Comp

82 tested

81.7%

scored 3 or higher

Studio Art 2d Design

68 tested

94.1%

scored 3 or higher

U S Government and Politics

96 tested

78.1%

scored 3 or higher

World History

205 tested · Grade 10

72.7%

scored 3 or higher

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
Social Studies	900	84.0%
Ela	885	77.0%
Science	108	16.0%
Math	58	19.0%

Math

Grade 80%

School 0% · District 70% · ▼ 70 pts below district

▼ 37 pts below state median · ▼ 40 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 80%

School 0% · District 64% · ▼ 64 pts below district

▼ 48 pts below state median · ▼ 56 pts below county median

Science

Grade 80%

School 0% · District 54% · ▼ 54 pts below district

▼ 33 pts below state median · ▼ 25 pts below county median

This schoolNEW YORK CITY GEOGRAPHIC DISTRICT #21, 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.