Reach Academy Charter School, Buffalo NY

Original Research by School Decision on Reach Academy Charter School

REACH Academy is a charter school serving kindergarten through seventh grade in Buffalo's Ash Street neighborhood. The school draws from a student population that is overwhelmingly economically disadvantaged, with a substantial majority of students qualifying for free or reduced price lunch. The student body is predominantly Black, with smaller shares of Hispanic, Asian, multiracial, and white students.

The school has grown substantially in recent years. A charter renewal in 2022 authorized enrollment expansion and the addition of grade levels, allowing families to keep children through middle school rather than transferring elsewhere. REACH opened a separate middle school building in a renovated former maritime charter school to house grades 7 and 8, a visible commitment to serving older students with their own dedicated campus space.

On state assessments in math and English language arts administered across grades 3 through 8, REACH's results are well below state proficiency benchmarks across all grades tested. In math, proficiency rates in the elementary grades (3 and 4) stand at roughly one in two and one in two students meeting the state's proficiency standard, respectively. The proficiency rate falls as students advance: grades 5 and 6 see one in three students meet proficiency, while grades 7 and 8 drop to around one in four and one in six, respectively. English language arts follows a similar downward trajectory by grade, starting at around one in three students proficient in grade 3 and declining to around one in four or fewer in the upper grades. Science proficiency is even lower, with one in ten students in grade 5 and roughly one in four in grade 8 meeting proficiency. When viewed alongside schools across Erie County, REACH's overall proficiency index places it in the bottom quartile. A parent may want to look into further what supports the school offers in response to these results, what the school's improvement trajectory has been, and what academic interventions are available for students not yet meeting grade-level standards.

State testing data do not capture special education enrollment or English learner status, so the extent to which these populations are served and supported is not visible in the public record reviewed here. The school's music program is listed among its offerings.

Buffalo itself is an active urban neighborhood undergoing substantial redevelopment, with a downtown core and distinct commercial-residential neighborhoods like Allentown and Elmwood Village. The city's Olmsted-designed park system, the Metro Rail, and bus transit connect neighborhoods and civic anchors including the Central Library and downtown cultural and medical institutions. Housing stock reflects Buffalo's age, with late-19th and early-20th-century wood-frame homes, rowhouses, and loft conversions. The housing market has shifted in recent years, with median home values in the school's ZIP code well below the state average and rental prices showing recent modest increases. The local economy is anchored by state government, major health systems, M&T Bank, and other large employers in the region.

REACH Academy is an option for families seeking a neighborhood charter school with strong neighborhood presence and room to grow through middle school, but one whose academic performance data show substantial gaps below state standards across both tested subjects and grade levels that warrant detailed conversation with school leadership about pedagogical approach, supports, and trajectory.

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Academic performance

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

New York Regents Exams

1 course 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	17	41.0%

Math

Grade 344%

School 44% · district not reported

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

Grade 449%

School 49% · district not reported

▼ 9 pts below state median · ▲ 1 pts above county median

Grade 531%

School 31% · district not reported

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

Grade 635%

School 35% · district not reported

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

Grade 726%

School 26% · district not reported

▼ 26 pts below state median · ▼ 11 pts below county median

Grade 815%

School 15% · district not reported

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

English language arts

Grade 330%

School 30% · district not reported

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

Grade 427%

School 27% · district not reported

▼ 25 pts below state median · ▼ 14 pts below county median

Grade 525%

School 25% · district not reported

▼ 29 pts below state median · ▼ 20 pts below county median

Grade 623%

School 23% · district not reported

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

Grade 727%

School 27% · district not reported

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

Grade 823%

School 23% · district not reported

▼ 25 pts below state median · ▼ 11 pts below county median

Science

Grade 511%

School 11% · district not reported

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

Grade 827%

School 27% · district not reported

▼ 7 pts below state median · ▼ 4 pts below county median

This schoolDistrict average, 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 4Lower-income26%Higher-income50%25 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income26%Higher-income22%3 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income22%Higher-income38%16 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income25%Higher-income42%17 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income23%Higher-income29%6 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 4Lower-income50%Higher-income38%12 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income31%Higher-income33%3 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income33%Higher-income50%17 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income27%Higher-income25%2 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income17%Higher-income0%17 pp gap