School 22-lincoln School, Rochester NY

Original Research by School Decision on School 22-lincoln School

Lincoln School serves prekindergarten through sixth grade on the Upper Falls Boulevard corridor in Rochester. It is a regular public elementary school in the Rochester City School District, one of about eight schools at its grade band in the city's reconfigured system following the 2024-25 reorganization that closed multiple buildings and realigned grade spans.

The school enrolls a small population of students, with nearly all qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting the economic context of its neighborhood. The student body is predominantly Hispanic, with a smaller share of Black students and very few white or Asian students. No special populations data was available in the records reviewed.

Academic performance at Lincoln is weak across measured subjects. In mathematics, proficiency rates decline sharply as students advance: third-grade students show modest results, while by fourth grade proficiency drops steeply, and by fifth and sixth grade, very few students meet grade-level standards. English language arts shows a similar pattern, with proficiency consistently low across grades three through six. Science testing in fifth grade also reflects low attainment. A parent may want to look into this further with the school, asking specifically what reading and math support exists, how the school identifies students who are falling behind, and what catch-up or intervention programs are in place. Given the low baseline across grade levels, understanding the trajectory families can expect and what the school's plan is to move students toward proficiency would be important.

When compared to other schools measured in Monroe County, Lincoln's overall proficiency index places it in the bottom quartile, meaning most other measured schools in the region show stronger results. This positioning reflects the challenge at hand: the school serves a high-poverty, economically stressed community, and test results point to significant gaps in foundational skills that will compound across grades.

Housing in the zip code around the school is modest in value and has declined slightly year over year. The neighborhood is part of Rochester's downtown revitalization effort, which has brought some new residential development and adaptive reuse of historic buildings, but the immediate housing stock remains affordable and working-class. The broader city is pursuing downtown growth after decades of population loss, with new mixed-income housing projects underway, though the pace of change is gradual.

The district itself faces structural headwinds. It is experiencing enrollment decline and ended federal COVID-relief funding in the 2024-25 school year, resulting in a significant budget decrease and staff reductions. The recent school closures and grade realignment, while intended to right-size the system, created transition and assignment uncertainty for families. For parents considering Lincoln, it is worth understanding how the district's resource constraints and ongoing budget pressures may affect classroom size, program breadth, and the depth of academic support available to students who are behind grade level.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 337%

School 37% · District 25% · ▲ 13 pts above district

▼ 22 pts below state median · ▼ 9 pts below county median

Grade 414%

School 14% · District 17% · ▼ 4 pts below district

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

Grade 56%

School 6% · District 13% · ▼ 7 pts below district

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

Grade 619%

School 19% · District 18% · ▲ 1 pts above district

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

English language arts

Grade 320%

School 20% · District 22% · ▼ 2 pts below district

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

Grade 415%

School 15% · District 19% · ▼ 4 pts below district

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

Grade 511%

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

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

Grade 614%

School 14% · District 20% · ▼ 6 pts below district

▼ 32 pts below state median · ▼ 14 pts below county median

Science

Grade 512%

School 12% · District 14% · ▼ 2 pts below district

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

Social studies

Grade 548%

School 48% · district not reported

▼ 44 pts below state median · ▼ 46 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 3Lower-income37%Higher-income40%3 pp gap