Howard T Herber Middle School, Malverne NY

Original Research by School Decision on Howard T Herber Middle School

Howard T. Herber Middle School is a regular public middle school serving sixth through eighth grades in Malverne, a small residential village in Nassau County. The school sits at the heart of the Malverne Union Free School District, which covers parts of Malverne, Lynbrook, Rockville Centre, and West Hempstead.

The school enrolls around that size, with roughly equal numbers across the three grades. About a third of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. The student body is racially and ethnically diverse: Black students make up a substantial plurality, Hispanic students a large share, white and Asian students smaller portions, and other groups represented as well.

On state testing in 2024-25, sixth-grade math proficiency was comparatively strong, while proficiency dropped notably by seventh grade and fell further by eighth grade. In English language arts, sixth-grade proficiency was moderate, seventh-grade similar, and eighth-grade proficiency notably lower. The school did not administer the state science assessment to its eighth-grade class in a way that produced comparable data. Participation rates across both subjects and grades have been low, ranging from the low forties to mid-fifties percent. A parent may want to look into the school's participation and testing patterns directly with the school to understand whether there are barriers to full participation or other factors at play.

When measured against the other districts in Nassau County, Herber's overall proficiency index across tested subjects and grades places it in the bottom quartile. The school does not have a published graduation rate, since it serves only middle grades and those students move on to high school.

Malverne itself is a walkable, tree-lined village of single-family homes with a small downtown centered near the Long Island Rail Road station. The real estate market is active and prices have risen modestly over the past year. The village is predominantly residential, with small businesses and professional services along Hempstead Avenue rather than any major private employers. Most working residents commute to Manhattan or elsewhere in Nassau County. The school district serves this and neighboring communities and is among the area's larger institutional employers.

No information was available about course offerings, staffing, discipline, or attendance at the school level. The district's recent strategic priorities were not readily available. A family considering this school would benefit from conversations with the school itself about curriculum supports, academic interventions, and the factors behind the low participation and declining proficiency rates across grades.

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Academic performance

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

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
Math	144	92.0%
Science	144	74.0%
Social Studies	42	90.0%

Math

Grade 680%

School 80% · District 78% · ▲ 2 pts above district

▲ 35 pts above state median · ▲ 10 pts above county median

Grade 768%

School 68% · District 66% · ▲ 2 pts above district

▲ 15 pts above state median · even with county median

English language arts

Grade 652%

School 52% · District 51% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▲ 6 pts above state median · ▼ 11 pts below county median

Grade 761%

School 61% · District 59% · ▲ 2 pts above district

▲ 13 pts above state median · ▲ 2 pts above county median

Grade 844%

School 44% · District 44%

▼ 4 pts below state median · ▼ 12 pts below county median

Science

Grade 80%

School 0% · District 0%

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

This schoolMALVERNE 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 5Lower-income59%Higher-income70%11 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income33%Higher-income59%26 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income46%Higher-income64%18 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income30%Higher-income50%20 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 5Lower-income61%Higher-income78%17 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income75%Higher-income82%7 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income46%Higher-income74%27 pp gap