Fishers Island School, Fishers Island NY

Original Research by School Decision on Fishers Island School

Fishers Island School is a PreK-12 public school serving a small island community off the coast of Connecticut. The school enrolls roughly the same size cohort across elementary and middle grades, with slightly smaller groups in high school. The student body is predominantly white, with a smaller share of students of Hispanic heritage and other racial and ethnic backgrounds represented. Data on free-and-reduced-price lunch eligibility and special populations were not available.

The school sits within an island hamlet where year-round population is small and seasonal visitors substantially swell the summer base. Commercial activity is minimal; civic and cultural life centers on community institutions including a museum, library, theater, community garden and school. Housing is expensive and a persistent constraint on year-round families. The Walsh Park Benevolent Corporation operates affordable housing units that support a meaningful share of school-age children on the island, and a recent rezoning and land partnership project between the school district and Walsh Park aims to add more year-round units to sustain the community. The school draws students not only from Fishers Island but also from mainland Connecticut communities, functioning in effect as a magnet school for families who commute by ferry.

In 2025, the district completed a major renovation and addition to the school building, which had been nearly decades old. The project modernized classroom acoustics and learning spaces, upgraded the media center and outdoor areas, and added a health suite and secure entrance. The work cost several million dollars and totaled many thousands of square feet of improvements, representing a substantial investment in the school's physical infrastructure and safety.

State testing data show proficiency results across mathematics, English language arts, and science in grades tested. In grade 4, proficiency rates in both math and ELA fell below the midpoint. Grades 6, 7 and 8 showed stronger performance, with grade 6 ELA reaching high proficiency; grade 6 and 8 math showed solid results, and grade 7 proficiency in both subjects sat in a mid-to-high range. Grade 8 science proficiency was also strong. Grade 3 results could not be displayed due to the size of the tested cohort. Because the school enrolls very few students in each grade, state suppression rules apply when cohorts fall below a certain threshold, which affects how much detail the testing picture reveals. A parent may want to speak directly with the school about academic support in the lower elementary grades, where grade 4 performance data that are available suggest an area of concern.

The school's overall proficiency index across tested subjects and grades sits in the top quartile relative to school districts across Suffolk County. Participation in state assessments is near universal, with one eighth-grade cohort at slightly lower participation.

No graduation rate data were provided. State testing data do not cover grades 9 through 12, so high school academic performance cannot be assessed from the available evidence. Program offerings, staffing, course access, attendance, discipline and chronic absenteeism data were not available. A parent evaluating the high school experience would need to speak with the school directly about curriculum breadth, AP or dual-credit pathways, and other program depth.

The school environment reflects its island setting: a small, tightly knit community where most residents know one another and volunteer across multiple civic roles. The renovated facility is the only public school serving the island and Connecticut commuters. For families considering a move to or enrollment in the school, the key question is likely whether the island's seasonal rhythm, limited year-round population, ferry dependence, high cost of living, and small K-12 cohort align with their family's needs. The school's recent building investment and strong middle-grade testing performance suggest active institutional support, but the data gaps around high school and special populations mean that families should engage directly with the school to understand the full academic and social landscape.

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Academic performance

State test results and graduation outcomes.

Graduation rate (ACGR)

>=50%Cohort of 10 students · Class of 2021

The federal source publishes a banded range instead of an exact rate when the graduating cohort is small enough that an exact number could risk identifying individual students.

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.

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
Ela	5	100.0%
Science	5	80.0%
Social Studies	5	100.0%

Math

Grade 440%

School 40% · District 40%

▼ 18 pts below state median · ▼ 17 pts below county median

Grade 680%

School 80% · District 80%

▲ 35 pts above state median · ▲ 34 pts above county median

Grade 771%

School 71% · District 71%

▲ 19 pts above state median · ▲ 11 pts above county median

Grade 880%

School 80% · District 80%

▲ 43 pts above state median · ▲ 55 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 440%

School 40% · District 40%

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

Grade 6100%

School 100% · District 100%

▲ 54 pts above state median · ▲ 55 pts above county median

Grade 771%

School 71% · District 71%

▲ 24 pts above state median · ▲ 26 pts above county median

Grade 860%

School 60% · District 60%

▲ 12 pts above state median · ▲ 16 pts above county median

Science

Grade 880%

School 80% · District 80%

▲ 47 pts above state median · ▲ 53 pts above county median

This schoolFISHERS ISLAND UNION FREE 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.