Sanford H Calhoun High School, Merrick NY

Original Research by School Decision on Sanford H Calhoun High School

Sanford H Calhoun High School is a comprehensive public high school in Merrick serving grades nine through twelve within the Bellmore-Merrick Central High School District. The school sits in an established, fully developed residential suburb on Long Island's South Shore, where single-family homes, mature neighborhoods, and direct water access define the setting. Merrick itself is a moderately walkable place anchored by the LIRR station and commercial corridors along Merrick Avenue and Merrick Road; the school is embedded in the residential grid rather than the downtown core. The housing market is mature and tight, with limited new construction and steady buyer demand; properties reflect the area's appeal to families with school-age children.

The school enrolls roughly a thousand students across its four grades, with a student body that is predominantly white, with smaller shares of Hispanic, Asian, Black, and multiracial students. A modest share of the enrollment qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, suggesting a student population drawn largely from middle to upper-middle-income families. Data on students with disabilities and English learners was not available. The district has distributed Chromebooks to all students in grades seven through twelve for school and home use, a district-wide technology commitment that extends across the secondary grades Calhoun serves.

State testing data, proficiency rates, graduation rates, and chronic absenteeism figures were not available for this school. Without those metrics, a clear read on academic performance and college and career readiness cannot be rendered from the data provided. A parent exploring this school would need to request these outcomes directly from the building or district, and to ask what programs, course sequences, and post-secondary pathways are available to students. Program listings and staffing details were also absent from the available information.

The school's parent district has stability features relevant to long-term planning. Operating budgets have grown steadily while remaining within the state tax-levy cap, signaling predictable property-tax impact for homeowners. In 2024, voters approved a significant capital reserve fund and a major facilities upgrade at Kennedy High School, establishing a lasting funding mechanism for infrastructure improvements. These reflect a district with voter support and intentional planning for building maintenance and modernization.

Merrick itself is a place where growth is incremental rather than transformative. The post-World War II boom that built the community is long complete; new housing is sparse and single-family in character, with no large multifamily or major redevelopment projects underway. The LIRR station provides commuter rail access to New York City in roughly an hour, and public amenities include the Norman J. Levy Park and Preserve, a 52-acre former landfill with walking trails, bay fishing access, and views. The library, small shops and restaurants along the commercial corridors, and schools define daily civic anchors. This is a settled, family-oriented suburb where what exists is what families can expect to see and experience.

To assess whether Calhoun is the right fit, a parent or resident would want to connect directly with the school and district on course offerings, electives, AP or honors pathways, college placement outcomes, athletic and extracurricular options, and the general instructional approach. The available data confirms the school's enrollment size and demographic composition but leaves academic performance, program depth, and student outcomes as questions to pursue in person or through the district website.

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Academic performance

How students graduate and prepare for what comes next.

Graduation rate (ACGR)

98.0%Cohort of 291 students · Class of 2021

How this school compares to all schools in this state

Each dot is one school’s SY 2020-21 graduation rate, binned by integer rate. Taller columns mean more schools at that rate. This school is highlighted.

1,253 schools plotted. 14 additional schools' rates are federally suppressed and not shown. Data: EDFacts SY 2020-21.

Advanced Placement & IB

31 subjects offered · 2023-24

Each card is one AP or IB subject. The headline number is the share of students scoring 3 or higher on the exam — the threshold for college credit at most universities. The bar below each rate shows the underlying distribution across performance levels.

Score:12· no credit345· extremely well qualified

Math and Computer Science

Calculus AB

71 tested

56.3%

scored 3 or higher

Calculus BC

14 tested

85.7%

scored 3 or higher

Computer Science A

15 tested

73.3%

scored 3 or higher

Computer Science Principles

1 tested · Grade 10

0.0%

scored 3 or higher

Statistics

64 tested · Grade 10

48.4%

scored 3 or higher

Sciences

Biology

65 tested · Grade 10

56.9%

scored 3 or higher

Chemistry

59 tested

61.0%

scored 3 or higher

Environmental Science

12 tested

58.3%

scored 3 or higher

Physics 1

53 tested · Grade 10

22.6%

scored 3 or higher

Physics 2

17 tested

23.5%

scored 3 or higher

Physics C: Electricity and Magnetism

4 tested

0.0%

scored 3 or higher

Physics C: Mechanics

9 tested

55.6%

scored 3 or higher

English

Research

10 tested

100.0%

scored 3 or higher

Seminar

51 tested · Grade 10

100.0%

scored 3 or higher

History and Social Sciences

European History

27 tested · Grade 10

74.1%

scored 3 or higher

Macroeconomics

32 tested

50.0%

scored 3 or higher

Microeconomics

50 tested

66.0%

scored 3 or higher

Psychology

106 tested

65.1%

scored 3 or higher

U.S. History

117 tested

82.1%

scored 3 or higher

World Languages and Cultures

Chinese Language and Culture

5 tested

0.0%

scored 3 or higher

French Language and Culture

5 tested

20.0%

scored 3 or higher

Italian Language and Culture

9 tested

77.8%

scored 3 or higher

Spanish Language and Culture

45 tested

77.8%

scored 3 or higher

Arts

Music Theory

1 tested

0.0%

scored 3 or higher

Studio Art Drawing

9 tested

100.0%

scored 3 or higher

Other

Language and Comp

137 tested

72.3%

scored 3 or higher

Literature and Comp

86 tested

94.2%

scored 3 or higher

Studio Art 2d Design

9 tested

100.0%

scored 3 or higher

Studio Art 3d Design

26 tested

100.0%

scored 3 or higher

U S Government and Politics

25 tested

92.0%

scored 3 or higher

World History

115 tested · Grade 10

86.1%

scored 3 or higher

New York Regents Exams

4 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	342	89.0%
Social Studies	296	91.0%
Ela	290	95.0%
Math	37	35.0%

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.