Islip Middle School, Islip NY - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Islip Middle School

Islip Middle School serves the grades six through eight cohort in Islip, a coastal South Shore hamlet on Long Island with a mix of suburban residential neighborhoods anchored by water and a small downtown. The school enrolls a modest-sized cohort, with students spread across sixth, seventh, and eighth grade. The student body is pluralistic: roughly half white, a substantial share Hispanic, and smaller shares Asian and Black. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price meals, reflecting economic diversity in the catchment.

The academic picture warrants attention. State testing data shows proficiency rates in the low-to-mid range. In sixth-grade math and English language arts, proficiency runs in the low thirties. Seventh grade shows modest improvement, with math proficiency near forty percent and ELA also near forty percent. Eighth-grade math data is not available for the current year, but eighth-grade ELA reaches just over forty percent, and eighth-grade science proficiency is near fifty percent. These numbers place the school in the bottom quartile of Suffolk County districts on an overall proficiency index. A parent may want to look into further detail with the school about what supports exist for students not yet at proficiency, what the upward trajectory looks like in students' academic careers, and what remediation or intervention pathways the school offers. One notable limitation: participation rates in testing are uneven across grades and subjects, with some grades and subjects showing lower participation, which can affect how fully the data reflects student performance.

The school sits within the Islip Union Free School District, which is contending with fiscal pressure. Voters recently rejected a budget proposal for the 2026-27 school year that exceeded the state tax cap, a signal that district resources may tighten. In a contingency budget scenario, non-mandated programs such as athletics, clubs, and equipment purchasing typically face cuts. The district has also expanded dual-enrollment offerings, including a new Real Estate course at the high school, broadening pathways for students seeking college credit.

The hamlet itself is a modest residential community with a walkable Main Street anchored by shops and restaurants, proximity to waterfront amenities and parks including Islip Beach on the Great South Bay, and transit access via the Islip LIRR station on the Montauk Branch. Housing in the area is mid-range for Long Island; median home values reflect a suburban market stable over recent years. The wider Town of Islip has been positioning itself as a center for Long Island economic development, though the most visible recent growth project (One Carleton Green, a mixed-use affordable housing development) sits in the Central Islip hamlet, not Islip proper.

A family considering this school should balance the available academic data against the community's strengths: a smaller, integrated school in a stable residential hamlet with public waterfront access and rail connectivity to New York City, set against the reality of below-county-average proficiency outcomes and district budget constraints that may affect program richness going forward.

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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	239	73.0%
Science	61	100.0%

Math

Grade 50%

School 0% · District 53% · ▼ 53 pts below district

▼ 51 pts below state median · ▼ 49 pts below county median

Grade 627%

School 27% · District 27%

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

Grade 738%

School 38% · District 38%

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

Grade 80%

School 0% · District 0%

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

English language arts

Grade 50%

School 0% · District 53% · ▼ 53 pts below district

▼ 54 pts below state median · ▼ 47 pts below county median

Grade 631%

School 31% · District 31%

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

Grade 738%

School 38% · District 38%

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

Grade 841%

School 41% · District 41%

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

Science

Grade 50%

School 0% · District 38% · ▼ 37 pts below district

▼ 42 pts below state median · ▼ 40 pts below county median

Grade 848%

School 48% · District 48%

▲ 14 pts above state median · ▲ 21 pts above county median

Social studies

Grade 892%

School 92% · district not reported

▲ 13 pts above state median · even with county median

This schoolISLIP 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-income24%Higher-income38%15 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income29%Higher-income47%18 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income37%Higher-income44%7 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 6Lower-income23%Higher-income31%8 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income38%Higher-income38%0 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income10%Higher-income18%8 pp gap