East Islip High School, Islip Terrace NY

Original Research by School Decision on East Islip High School

East Islip High School is a regular four-year public high school serving the Town of Islip area on Long Island's South Shore. The school sits in Islip Terrace, a quiet, predominantly residential hamlet built out largely in the mid-20th century with modest single-family homes, now seeing some newer rental-apartment development. The student body is drawn from the East Islip Union Free School District, which encompasses East Islip, Great River, Islip Terrace, most of North Great River, and part of Central Islip.

The enrollment is moderate for a public high school in the region, distributed fairly evenly across grades nine through twelve. About a quarter of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, placing East Islip at a moderate level of economic need. The student population is predominantly White, with growing Hispanic enrollment that now represents a substantial minority, alongside smaller populations of Asian and other students. Civil-rights data on students with disabilities and English learners was not available, so the full picture of special-population support cannot be drawn from these records.

State assessment results and graduation-rate data were not included in available records, making it difficult to gauge academic proficiency or completion outcomes directly. Comparative data positioning the school against other Suffolk County districts on proficiency metrics and graduation rate were also absent from the records provided. A parent weighing this school against alternatives in the county may want to contact the district directly or consult the school's public-reporting portal to access testing data and completion figures, which the state collects but which did not appear in this data set.

The district has been through a significant identity change: New York State banned Native American mascots in 2023, requiring East Islip to retire its longtime "Redmen" name and branding by the end of the 2024-25 school year. This is a lasting, visible change that families will notice in uniforms, scoreboards, and school communications.

The broader economic picture is stable. Homes in the Islip Terrace ZIP code are appreciating modestly and remain within the reach of middle- to upper-middle-income families, though prices reflect the South Shore market and proximity to New York City. The area has stable employment anchored by the Town of Islip's industrial base, which includes food distribution, pharmaceuticals, manufacturing, healthcare, and the region's largest commercial airport. The job market reflects regional strength with unemployment near national norms.

The Long Island Rail Road's Montauk Branch serves the area, with stations within a short distance, making commuting to Manhattan feasible for working parents. Day-to-day life in Islip Terrace is car-oriented, with most commercial activity concentrated on Carleton Avenue and nearby East Islip; parks and green spaces, including Connetquot River State Park Preserve and local municipal parks, are accessible by car.

The district has maintained stable finances in recent budget cycles, with consistent voter approval of annual budgets and modest property-tax increases. In May 2025, voters approved changes to student transportation eligibility, a practical shift that prospective families should clarify with the district office. The combination of modest growth, stable school funding, and a largely intact, family-oriented residential character makes this a settled suburban environment where school choice hinges on academic and program fit rather than acute change or disruption.

See more original research from School Decision →

Academic performance

How students graduate and prepare for what comes next.

Graduation rate (ACGR)

96.0%Cohort of 305 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

20 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

14 tested

92.9%

scored 3 or higher

Calculus BC

15 tested

86.7%

scored 3 or higher

Computer Science A

14 tested · Grade 10

21.4%

scored 3 or higher

Computer Science Principles

14 tested · Grade 9

35.7%

scored 3 or higher

Statistics

29 tested · Grade 10

58.6%

scored 3 or higher

Sciences

Biology

23 tested

78.3%

scored 3 or higher

Chemistry

18 tested

94.4%

scored 3 or higher

Environmental Science

77 tested

51.9%

scored 3 or higher

Physics 1

9 tested

55.6%

scored 3 or higher

English

Research

22 tested

86.4%

scored 3 or higher

Seminar

41 tested · Grade 10

75.6%

scored 3 or higher

History and Social Sciences

Psychology

43 tested

86.0%

scored 3 or higher

U.S. History

102 tested

76.5%

scored 3 or higher

Arts

Music Theory

6 tested · Grade 10

0.0%

scored 3 or higher

Studio Art Drawing

7 tested

85.7%

scored 3 or higher

Other

Language and Comp

21 tested

52.4%

scored 3 or higher

Literature and Comp

64 tested

79.7%

scored 3 or higher

Studio Art 2d Design

14 tested

85.7%

scored 3 or higher

U S Government and Politics

17 tested

76.5%

scored 3 or higher

World History

103 tested · Grade 10

47.6%

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
Ela	311	92.0%
Social Studies	302	90.0%
Science	193	80.0%
Math	24	33.0%

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.