International School, Buffalo NY

Original Research by School Decision on International School

International School sits on Hoyt Street in Buffalo's West Side, a neighborhood of older wood-frame and brick residential housing within the broader urban grid of a city that is actively redeveloping its downtown core and East Side. The school is part of Buffalo City School District and serves children from pre-kindergarten through eighth grade, making it one of the district's PK-8 buildings. It is a regular public school, not a charter.

The student body is racially mixed in a way that reflects Buffalo's urban diversity. Black and Asian students each make up a substantial share of enrollment, with smaller proportions of white, Hispanic, and multiracial students. The school is large for its grade band. Economically, the vast majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, and starting in the 2025-26 school year all Buffalo students receive free breakfast and lunch regardless of income under New York's Universal School Meals Program, which is a direct cost relief for families. Data on English learner status and students with IEPs was not available in what was provided.

On state assessments, the picture is one a parent should look at closely. New York tests students in grades three through eight in math and ELA, and in grades five and eight in science. Across all tested grades, proficiency rates in math and ELA at International School are low. In the early elementary grades, very few students scored at the proficient-or-above threshold in either subject. Rates are somewhat higher in the middle grades, particularly in sixth and seventh grade ELA and sixth grade math, but they remain well below state norms. Science results follow a similar pattern, with fifth grade scores in the single digits and eighth grade somewhat better but still modest. Relative to districts in Erie County, the school's overall proficiency index places it in the bottom quartile of that comparison set. This is a real gap that families weighing this school for academic preparation should ask the school about directly, including what interventions are in place and how the district's new phonics-based literacy initiative is being implemented at the building level.

That literacy shift is worth knowing about. Buffalo City School District has publicly committed to a science-of-reading approach districtwide, including full adoption of Orton-Gillingham for kindergarten and first grade, backed by a substantial investment in teacher training. For families with children entering the early grades, this represents a meaningful change in how foundational reading is taught. Whether implementation at International School specifically is progressing is a question worth raising with the school.

At the district level, families should also be aware of ongoing financial pressure. The district faces a structural deficit projected across multiple years, and while a proposal to close two schools was reversed in early 2026, a management consultant has been retained to study future consolidations. The possibility of future school closures or staffing changes remains live, and families considering a longer enrollment horizon would be wise to follow how that process develops.

Social studies assessment data in the payload comes only from a school year that is now well over a decade old and does not reflect current conditions. Multi-year trend data was not available, so it is not possible from this data to say whether proficiency is improving, declining, or flat. Chronic absenteeism and graduation rate data are not applicable here: this school ends at eighth grade, so there is no graduation cohort to measure.

Buffalo's housing market in the zip codes surrounding the school is priced well below both the state and national medians, making it one of the more affordable urban school zones in New York. Inventory in Erie County has grown noticeably year over year, and homes move at a moderate pace. Rents in the area are also modest relative to national benchmarks. The neighborhood is within Buffalo's urban walkable grid, close to transit and the city's commercial avenue strips.

Program details for International School were not available in the data provided, so it is not possible to speak to extracurriculars, enrichment, or specialized offerings beyond what appears in the demographic and testing data.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 39%

School 9% · District 34% · ▼ 25 pts below district

▼ 50 pts below state median · ▼ 41 pts below county median

Grade 416%

School 16% · District 26% · ▼ 10 pts below district

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

Grade 57%

School 7% · District 23% · ▼ 16 pts below district

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

Grade 626%

School 26% · District 25% · ▲ 1 pts above district

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

Grade 724%

School 24% · District 24%

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

Grade 819%

School 19% · District 18% · ▲ 1 pts above district

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

English language arts

Grade 310%

School 10% · District 32% · ▼ 22 pts below district

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

Grade 410%

School 10% · District 23% · ▼ 13 pts below district

▼ 42 pts below state median · ▼ 32 pts below county median

Grade 513%

School 13% · District 26% · ▼ 13 pts below district

▼ 41 pts below state median · ▼ 32 pts below county median

Grade 625%

School 25% · District 27% · ▼ 2 pts below district

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

Grade 725%

School 25% · District 26% · ▼ 1 pts below district

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

Grade 826%

School 26% · District 31% · ▼ 5 pts below district

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

Science

Grade 510%

School 10% · District 20% · ▼ 10 pts below district

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

Grade 823%

School 23% · District 17% · ▲ 6 pts above district

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

Social studies

Grade 537%

School 37% · district not reported

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

Grade 824%

School 24% · district not reported

▼ 55 pts below state median · ▼ 51 pts below county median

This schoolBUFFALO CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT, 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 5Lower-income13%Higher-income20%7 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 5Lower-income8%Higher-income0%8 pp gap