Robert M Finley Middle School, Glen Cove NY

Original Research by School Decision on Robert M Finley Middle School

Robert M. Finley Middle School is a six-through-eight grade school of roughly mid-size enrollment in Glen Cove, a small North Shore city in Nassau County with a walkable downtown, significant waterfront redevelopment, and a blend of suburban and maritime character.

The school's academic picture shows below-average performance on state tests. In the most recent year, proficiency rates across math and English language arts ranged from the mid-thirties to mid-forties—with sixth-grade math showing the highest rate and eighth-grade science substantially lower. The school's overall proficiency index places it in the bottom quartile among Nassau County districts, which is worth considering carefully if academic attainment measured by state testing is a primary decision factor. A parent may want to look into this further with the school and the district to understand what supports are in place and what growth trajectory the school is on.

The student body is predominantly Hispanic, with about half qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch. The student composition reflects a community with mixed economic circumstances and significant diversity of family background. The school sits on Forest Avenue, away from Glen Cove's compact downtown, on a suburban campus typical of the district's land use pattern.

Glen Cove City School District recently passed a major bond referendum in 2022 after two earlier failed votes, funding the first extensive infrastructure overhaul in decades. That investment replaced HVAC systems, windows, security doors, science labs, and other building systems across the district. Beyond facilities, the district overhauled its elementary literacy curriculum to align with New York's newer phonics-based reading standards, which the state approved in 2025. Those shifts are material if you have or are considering elementary-age children, as they reflect a deliberate change in how the district is teaching reading.

The Glen Cove housing market is in active recovery. Median home values in the zip code have risen modestly year over year, and the Garvies Point waterfront redevelopment—a roughly 60-acre mixed-use project adding hundreds of new housing units, retail, parks, and waterfront access—is reshaping the city's character and tax base. Rents have also risen. For families renting or buying near Finley, both housing costs and the district's academic performance numbers warrant direct conversation with school leadership about instructional priorities, staffing, and any academic intervention programs the school runs.

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Academic performance

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

New York Regents Exams

2 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
Science	105	80.0%
Math	94	96.0%

Math

Grade 642%

School 42% · District 41% · ▲ 1 pts above district

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

Grade 749%

School 49% · District 49%

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

Grade 838%

School 38% · District 34% · ▲ 3 pts above district

even with state median · ▼ 1 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 638%

School 38% · District 37% · ▲ 1 pts above district

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

Grade 734%

School 34% · District 34%

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

Grade 846%

School 46% · District 44% · ▲ 3 pts above district

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

Science

Grade 822%

School 22% · District 22%

▼ 12 pts below state median · even with county median

Social studies

Grade 875%

School 75% · district not reported

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

This schoolGLEN COVE 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 6Lower-income29%Higher-income53%24 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income26%Higher-income47%21 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income38%Higher-income58%19 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 6Lower-income33%Higher-income56%23 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income35%Higher-income71%36 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income37%Higher-income40%3 pp gap