Dr. Alice Holloway Young School of Excellence, Rochester NY

Original Research by School Decision on Dr. Alice Holloway Young School of Excellence

Dr. Alice Holloway Young School of Excellence is a middle school in Rochester serving seventh and eighth grades, located on Adams Street in the city. The school is a public school within the Rochester City School District.

The school's enrollment is small for its grade band, distributed roughly equally between the two grades. Nearly all students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting the economic profile of the neighborhoods the school draws from. The student population is predominantly Black, with meaningful representation from Hispanic students, and smaller populations of white and multiracial students.

Academic performance is very low across state testing. In seventh-grade math, the school's proficiency rate is in the single digits, and in eighth-grade math it dropped to zero proficiency. Eighth-grade English language arts shows the strongest result in the set, yet remains quite low at below one-fifth proficient. Eighth-grade science proficiency is negligible. A parent may want to look into what academic supports the school has in place and whether there are intervention programs for students who are not meeting state standards. Test participation rates in eighth grade, particularly in science, are notably below target, suggesting either absences on testing days or exclusions from testing, which is worth clarifying with the school. The school's overall proficiency index places it in the bottom quartile relative to other districts in Monroe County.

The Rochester City School District underwent its most significant restructuring in many years beginning in the 2024-25 school year, closing eleven schools and realigning grades into separate elementary, middle, and high school configurations. This reconfiguration directly affected school assignments and structure across the district. Additionally, the district faced a substantial budget contraction as federal COVID-relief funding ended, leading to the loss of staff positions and a tighter resource environment. Enrollment in the district has continued to decline. These shifts have reshaped the landscape in which the school operates, and families should be aware that the district is navigating significant structural and fiscal change.

Housing in the school's Rochester neighborhood is modestly priced, with rental costs lower than surrounding areas, reflecting the city's broader economic profile. The local real estate market has shown recent activity with increased inventory and listing prices edging upward, though affordability remains significantly better than state or national benchmarks.

A parent choosing this school should understand that the school is currently serving students with proficiency rates far below state standards and county norms. The district context includes ongoing enrollment loss and recent institutional restructuring. The school's small size and neighborhood location are factual characteristics; whether those factors align with a family's needs would depend on individual circumstances.

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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 · 2023-24

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	47	0.0%
Science	42	7.0%

Math

Grade 76%

School 6% · District 15% · ▼ 9 pts below district

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

Grade 80%

School 0% · District 4% · ▼ 4 pts below district

▼ 37 pts below state median · ▼ 5 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 711%

School 11% · District 17% · ▼ 6 pts below district

▼ 36 pts below state median · ▼ 24 pts below county median

Grade 819%

School 19% · District 19%

▼ 30 pts below state median · ▼ 13 pts below county median

Science

Grade 81%

School 1% · District 10% · ▼ 8 pts below district

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

Social studies

Grade 572%

School 72% · district not reported

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

Grade 822%

School 22% · district not reported

▼ 57 pts below state median · ▼ 68 pts below county median

This schoolROCHESTER CITY 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 8Lower-income19%Higher-income20%1 pp gap