Alverta B Gray Schultz Middle School, Hempstead NY

Original Research by School Decision on Alverta B Gray Schultz Middle School

Alverta B Gray Schultz Middle School serves grades seven through ten in Hempstead, a diverse, ethnically mixed village at the geographic center of Nassau County. The school sits on Greenwich Street in a downtown area anchored by the LIRR Hempstead Station and Rosa Parks Transit Center, within walking distance of the village's retail, civic, and cultural institutions. The enrollment is predominantly Hispanic and Black, with a substantial share of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting the economic makeup of the Hempstead community. The student body is small for a middle-and-early-high school, drawing from a neighborhood where major revitalization and downtown redevelopment are underway.

Academic performance is the area where the school faces real challenges. State testing data from the most recent year shows that fewer than one in three seventh and eighth graders scored at proficient levels in either math or English language arts. Math performance is particularly low, with seventh-grade proficiency well below one in three. ELA results are marginally stronger but still in the same range. Science assessment data were not reported, which often reflects operational or testing arrangements particular to the school rather than poor performance itself. The only historical comparison available is an eighth-grade social studies result from over a decade ago, so there is no recent trend to assess whether these proficiency rates represent a persistent pattern or a moment in time. A parent may want to look into this further with the school to understand what supports are in place for students who enter below grade level and what the school's improvement trajectory has been.

Participation rates in state testing have been high, above ninety percent in both subjects where data were reported, suggesting that results reflect the actual student population rather than selective testing. This openness to assessment is a baseline sign of accountability, though it does not change that the proficiency picture is narrow.

The school operates within the Hempstead Union Free School District, which is an authorized International Baccalaureate district offering both the Primary Years Programme for elementary grades and the Middle Years Programme at the middle level. This means inquiry-based, globally focused instruction is the pedagogical approach across all grades. For a student entering ABGS, this represents a distinct learning model centered on problem-solving and service learning rather than traditional subject silos. The district is also undertaking a multi-year capital improvement program, with a new building for ABGS itself under construction as of October 2025, which will eventually provide a new physical school plant. These are long-term district initiatives that shape the environment a student would experience.

One structural reality to understand is that the Hempstead Union Free School District operates under New York State oversight by a state monitor, an ongoing intervention that stems from past governance and financial challenges. The monitor attends board meetings, reviews the budget, and has authority over major decisions. This external accountability is a fact of life for families in the district and reflects a history of instability that is not yet fully resolved.

Housing values in the Hempstead area have been rising modestly year over year, and the village's ongoing downtown revitalization, recently awarded additional state funding, is explicitly aimed at transit-oriented mixed-use development. For families already rooted in Hempstead or drawn to its walkable downtown, the school's location and its role in an IB-focused district may align with their values. For families whose primary concern is immediate academic proficiency and upward trajectory, the test results here warrant deeper conversation with the school about what remediation and advanced support exist, how students at entry level are served, and what the school's own data show about growth over time.

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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
Math	376	33.0%
Science	309	22.0%

Math

Grade 50%

School 0% · District 36% · ▼ 36 pts below district

▼ 51 pts below state median · ▼ 72 pts below county median

Grade 729%

School 29% · District 29%

▼ 24 pts below state median · ▼ 39 pts below county median

Grade 80%

School 0% · district not reported

▼ 37 pts below state median · ▼ 38 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 50%

School 0% · District 42% · ▼ 42 pts below district

▼ 54 pts below state median · ▼ 70 pts below county median

Grade 731%

School 31% · District 31%

▼ 17 pts below state median · ▼ 28 pts below county median

Grade 830%

School 30% · District 30%

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

Science

Grade 50%

School 0% · District 31% · ▼ 31 pts below district

▼ 42 pts below state median · ▼ 60 pts below county median

Grade 80%

School 0% · district not reported

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

Social studies

Grade 860%

School 60% · district not reported

▼ 19 pts below state median · ▼ 34 pts below county median

This schoolHEMPSTEAD 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.

Proficiency by household income

English language arts

Grade 6Lower-income17%Higher-income10%7 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income35%Higher-income14%21 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income33%Higher-income22%11 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 6Lower-income5%Higher-income5%1 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income31%Higher-income22%9 pp gap