The top reported proficiency rate is 43% in English language arts. The lowest is 38% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on William Floyd Learning Center
William Floyd Learning Center is a special education school serving kindergarten through fifth grade in Shirley, a car-dependent residential hamlet on the South Shore of Long Island. The school enrolls a small student body drawn from the William Floyd Union Free School District, which covers Shirley and neighboring coastal communities. Nearly four-fifths of the enrollment qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, and the student body is racially and ethnically mixed, with substantial shares identifying as Hispanic, Black, White, or multiracial.
Because this is a special education school rather than a general-enrollment school, it sits outside the typical academic and demographic comparisons that frame most K-12 conversations. The state assessments reported here represent students who participated in testing; the school's role is to serve students with identified disabilities and provide individualized instruction within a special education framework. The test results reflect this mission: proficiency rates on state math and English language arts assessments across grades three, four, and five range from a low of around one-fifth of tested students in grade three math to a high of roughly three-fifths in grade five math and around three-fifths in grade five ELA. Grade five science proficiency sits at roughly two-fifths. These results are substantially below what general-education schools typically achieve, which is expected for a school designed to meet the needs of students working toward different benchmarks and accommodations. Across all tested grades and subjects, overall proficiency is below the midpoint among districts in Suffolk County, a positioning that reflects both the population the school serves and the nature of special education assessment.
Shirley itself is a postwar working-class suburb of modest single-family homes and newer construction, oriented toward the bay and developed around automotive corridors rather than a walkable center. The community is car-dependent, with errands requiring a vehicle and commercial life strung along the Montauk Highway and William Floyd Parkway rather than concentrated in a downtown. The civic anchor is the Mastics-Moriches-Shirley Community Library on William Floyd Parkway, and Smith Point County Park on Fire Island offers beachfront access. The area is growing, with new residential construction underway, though at a measured pace. Home values in the zip code are moderate for Long Island, and the housing market has shown modest year-over-year appreciation.
The William Floyd district itself has held or reduced property taxes in four of the past five years, including multiple zero-percent proposals and cuts, making it a low-tax-impact district relative to Long Island norms. In March 2025, voters approved a major facilities capital improvement project funded through state aid and previously approved reserve funds at no additional cost to taxpayers, addressing aging infrastructure and classroom expansion across all buildings. Beginning September 2025, the district also adopted a state-mandated distraction-free schools policy restricting internet-enabled devices during instructional time.
Parents considering William Floyd Learning Center are evaluating specialized placement for a child with identified disabilities. The school provides small-scale special education services within a K-5 setting, embedded in a district with stable, low-tax budgeting and recent facilities investment. The test results should be understood in context: they reflect the population served and the individualized nature of special education instruction rather than comparative school performance in a general sense. Anyone placing a child here would want to discuss with the school the specific instructional model, classroom structure, related services, and transition pathway as the child moves toward middle school.
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