School 34-dr Louis a Cerulli, Rochester NY

Original Research by School Decision on School 34-dr Louis a Cerulli

School 34-Dr Louis A Cerulli is a public elementary school serving prekindergarten through sixth grade in Rochester. It is a small school with enrollment spread across eight grade bands, from a few dozen pre-K students to upper elementary cohorts in the low fifties.

The school's student population is predominantly low-income, with a very substantial share of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch. The racial and ethnic composition is diverse: roughly half the enrollment is Black, with meaningful populations of Hispanic students and mixed-race students, smaller numbers of Asian and white students, and very few American Indian or Native Hawaiian students. The school sits in Rochester's urban core on Lexington Avenue and draws from a neighborhood where housing is modestly valued, with rental prices moderate relative to broader regional movement.

On New York state assessments administered in 2024-25, the school's proficiency rates across tested subjects and grades run substantially below midpoint. In mathematics, proficiency hovers in the mid-to-high teens across grades three through six; English language arts proficiency ranges from the high teens in grade three up to the high thirties by grade six, showing a modest upward trajectory. Science proficiency in grade five is in the low teens. These numbers place the school in the bottom quartile of proficiency among districts in Monroe County when measured as an overall index across tested subjects and grades. Participation in state testing is strong, with rates in the nineties and above across most grades and subjects, indicating the data reflects the school's actual student performance rather than testing logistics.

The school operates within Rochester City School District, which undertook a major structural reorganization beginning in the 2024-25 school year, closing eleven schools and realigning grade bands from a K-8 model back to traditional elementary, middle, and high school tiers. This reconfiguration was the district's largest overhaul in more than a generation. Families whose schools closed entered a lottery for reassignment. The district simultaneously faced the end of federal COVID-relief funding, which reduced the overall budget and staffing by a significant sum and resulted in job losses. Enrollment in the district continues to decline. These shifts mean the school operates in a contracting district environment with tighter resources, ongoing structural change, and continued pressure on staffing and programming.

Data on chronic absenteeism, discipline, staffing levels, course breadth, program specializations, and district-wide strategic priorities were not available. A parent may want to reach out to the school directly to learn about current supports, classroom composition, and the school's specific response to district-level changes.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 316%

School 16% · District 25% · ▼ 9 pts below district

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

Grade 417%

School 17% · District 17%

▼ 41 pts below state median · ▼ 27 pts below county median

Grade 519%

School 19% · District 13% · ▲ 5 pts above district

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

Grade 618%

School 18% · District 18%

▼ 27 pts below state median · ▼ 7 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 319%

School 19% · District 22% · ▼ 3 pts below district

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

Grade 432%

School 32% · District 19% · ▲ 12 pts above district

▼ 21 pts below state median · ▼ 7 pts below county median

Grade 527%

School 27% · District 19% · ▲ 9 pts above district

▼ 27 pts below state median · ▼ 11 pts below county median

Grade 637%

School 37% · District 20% · ▲ 17 pts above district

▼ 8 pts below state median · ▲ 10 pts above county median

Science

Grade 513%

School 13% · District 14% · ▼ 2 pts below district

▼ 29 pts below state median · ▼ 20 pts below county median

Social studies

Grade 577%

School 77% · district not reported

▼ 15 pts below state median · ▼ 16 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

Mathematics

Grade 5Lower-income20%Higher-income0%20 pp gap