Birch School, Merrick NY - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Birch School

Birch School is a public elementary school serving pre-kindergarten through sixth grade in Merrick, a mature suburban hamlet on Long Island's South Shore. The school has an enrollment of roughly six hundred students across nine grades, with the bulk of students in kindergarten through sixth grade.

The school sits in a predominantly white, relatively affluent community where fewer than one in fifteen students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. Asian, Hispanic, Black, and multiracial students together make up roughly a quarter of the enrollment; students with disabilities or English learner status data were not available.

Academically, Birch performs solidly. In state math testing across grades three through six, the school reports proficiency in the upper range, with most grades in the mid- to high eighties; fourth grade was particularly strong. English language arts proficiency is somewhat lower, in the upper seventies to upper eighties across those same grades, with fifth grade notably higher. Science proficiency in fifth grade sits in the low to mid seventies. These results place the school in the top quartile among Nassau County school districts when proficiency is averaged across tested subjects and grades. The school's overall proficiency index is well above the county median.

One note on the data: participation rates in some state assessments dip into the low to mid sixties or seventies, which is below the state participation standard. A parent may want to ask the school directly about reasons for those rates and what supports exist for students who miss testing. Data on special education and English learner enrollment were not available, so the full picture of student need and support is incomplete.

The community surrounding the school is stable and built out. Merrick has experienced its major growth decades past; today it is a fully developed neighborhood of single-family homes, with commercial activity clustered along corridors rather than dispersed throughout. Housing values are high and rising modestly year to year. The LIRR Merrick station connects residents directly to New York City, and the community includes parks and bay access. Inventory on the residential market is tight, and turnover is modest, which means school enrollment is relatively stable rather than volatile.

At the district level, voters recently approved funding for significant facility work, including roof and boiler replacements at Birch scheduled for summer 2027, financed from capital reserves with no new tax burden on residents. This reflects the district's approach to long-term maintenance and infrastructure care.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 386%

School 86% · District 86%

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

Grade 491%

School 91% · District 88% · ▲ 2 pts above district

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

Grade 586%

School 86% · District 85% · ▲ 2 pts above district

▲ 35 pts above state median · ▲ 15 pts above county median

Grade 682%

School 82% · District 82% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▲ 37 pts above state median · ▲ 12 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 378%

School 78% · District 84% · ▼ 6 pts below district

▲ 26 pts above state median · ▲ 11 pts above county median

Grade 477%

School 77% · District 79% · ▼ 2 pts below district

▲ 24 pts above state median · ▲ 9 pts above county median

Grade 589%

School 89% · District 85% · ▲ 4 pts above district

▲ 35 pts above state median · ▲ 19 pts above county median

Grade 680%

School 80% · District 75% · ▲ 5 pts above district

▲ 34 pts above state median · ▲ 17 pts above county median

Science

Grade 573%

School 73% · District 73%

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

Social studies

Grade 599%

School 99% · District 99%

▲ 7 pts above state median · ▲ 1 pts above county median

This schoolMERRICK 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 3Lower-income50%Higher-income82%32 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income100%Higher-income88%12 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income63%Higher-income83%20 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income75%Higher-income88%13 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income88%Higher-income86%1 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income43%Higher-income87%44 pp gap