School 7-virgil Grissom, Rochester NY

Original Research by School Decision on School 7-virgil Grissom

Virgil Grissom is a public elementary school in Rochester serving grades pre-K through 6, located on Bryan Street. It enrolls a small student body, with a substantial share of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch. The school's student composition is predominantly Black, with meaningful Hispanic enrollment and smaller shares of Asian, multiracial, and white students. Specific counts for students receiving special education or English-language support were not available.

The school's academic performance in math and English language arts on the state assessments remains low. In math, state testing shows proficiency rates that are notably small across all tested grades, ranging from around one in eight students in grade 5 to roughly one in four in grades 3 and 4. In English language arts, performance is similarly shallow, with grade 4 showing the strongest result at roughly one in three students meeting proficiency, while grade 5 saw one in ten, and grade 6 showed roughly one in seven. Science testing in grade 5 was particularly low, with fewer than one in ten students proficient. Participation rates in state testing are consistently high, indicating the school is administering assessments fully. Social studies data from an earlier year showed much stronger proficiency, but that assessment is no longer given statewide, so current trends in that subject are unavailable.

In the context of Monroe County districts, Virgil Grissom's overall proficiency index places it in the bottom quartile among schools, meaning academic performance is lower than most peers in the region. A parent may want to look into this further with the school and the district to understand what approaches are underway to build student achievement.

The school operates within Rochester City School District, which has undergone significant structural change. The district closed multiple schools and realigned grades in the 2024-25 school year as part of its largest reconfiguration in decades. The district also ended its partnership with the University of Rochester at two other schools and has absorbed the loss of federal COVID-relief funding, resulting in budget reductions and staffing cuts. Enrollment in the district continues to decline overall. These changes create a context of resource constraint and transition that affects the entire system.

Housing in the Rochester area is relatively affordable compared to state and national benchmarks. Median home values are modest, and rental costs are moderate, making the area accessible to families, though the local housing market has seen prices rise and inventory remain competitive in recent months. Rochester itself is a mixed city built along the Genesee River, with a walkable downtown core anchored by civic institutions, a central library system, and a park network designed by Frederick Law Olmsted. The city has pursued downtown revitalization and new housing development after decades of population decline, including affordable housing projects and adaptive-reuse residential conversions. Bus transit serves the city through a regional system operating dozens of lines from a downtown hub.

Virgil Grissom is a small, neighborhood-based elementary school in a city working to rebuild. Families choosing this school should understand that academic performance is currently low and plan accordingly for academic support, while also recognizing that the broader district context includes ongoing structural and resource challenges. The affordability of the Rochester area and the urban walkability of the city offer offsetting advantages for families prioritizing location and housing access.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 325%

School 25% · District 25%

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

Grade 427%

School 27% · District 17% · ▲ 10 pts above district

▼ 32 pts below state median · ▼ 18 pts below county median

Grade 513%

School 13% · District 13%

▼ 38 pts below state median · ▼ 23 pts below county median

Grade 612%

School 12% · District 18% · ▼ 6 pts below district

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

English language arts

Grade 326%

School 26% · District 22% · ▲ 5 pts above district

▼ 26 pts below state median · ▼ 17 pts below county median

Grade 433%

School 33% · District 19% · ▲ 14 pts above district

▼ 19 pts below state median · ▼ 6 pts below county median

Grade 511%

School 11% · District 19% · ▼ 8 pts below district

▼ 44 pts below state median · ▼ 28 pts below county median

Grade 615%

School 15% · District 20% · ▼ 5 pts below district

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

Science

Grade 59%

School 9% · District 14% · ▼ 5 pts below district

▼ 32 pts below state median · ▼ 23 pts below county median

Social studies

Grade 590%

School 90% · district not reported

▼ 2 pts below state median · ▼ 3 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 4Lower-income32%Higher-income40%8 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income14%Higher-income20%6 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 4Lower-income25%Higher-income40%15 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income12%Higher-income20%9 pp gap