Joseph C Wilson Foundation Academy, Rochester NY

Original Research by School Decision on Joseph C Wilson Foundation Academy

Joseph C Wilson Foundation Academy is a small kindergarten-through-eighth-grade public school in central Rochester. The school enrolls a cross-section of students with very high economic need; a substantial majority qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. The student body is predominantly Black, with a smaller Latino population and a small number of white and multiracial students.

The school's academic results tell a difficult story. On state testing in mathematics and English language arts across grades three through eight, overall proficiency is very low. In lower grades, proficiency rates in math sit in the single digits through fourth grade, then climb somewhat in fifth grade to about half the students meeting the standard, before dropping sharply again in sixth grade and continuing downward. ELA proficiency follows a similar downward trajectory, with only a modest proportion of students meeting standards even in fifth grade, the school's strongest subject area. By seventh and eighth grade, math proficiency falls back into the low teens or lower, with eighth-grade math proficiency at zero. ELA performance in the upper grades is similarly weak. Science proficiency at fifth grade is modestly better than ELA or math, at about one-third of students; by eighth grade it drops to one in ten. Testing participation in eighth grade, particularly in mathematics, is notably below the school's participation rates in other grades, which a parent may want to look into further with the school.

The school's proficiency index, a measure of overall tested performance across subjects and grades, places it in the bottom quartile among school districts in Monroe County. This positioning reflects sustained academic struggle across the student population.

The school is part of the Rochester City School District, which underwent a major structural reorganization beginning in the 2024-25 school year, closing eleven schools and realigning grades into elementary, middle, and high school configurations. Joseph C Wilson Foundation Academy continued to operate during this upheaval. The district has faced significant budget pressure from the loss of federal COVID-relief funding and has contracted staff positions, so resources across the system have tightened.

Rochester itself is a city in transition. Downtown revitalization efforts over the past decade have brought new housing, adaptive-reuse projects, and renewed public investment after years of decline. The city's economy rests on healthcare, higher education, advanced manufacturing, and government employment. Housing costs in the Rochester area are modest relative to many U.S. markets, though they have risen in recent years. Public transit via the Regional Transit Service bus system connects the city, and neighborhoods including downtown and the East End have become increasingly walkable and dense.

For a family considering Joseph C Wilson Foundation Academy, the school serves children in an economically challenged community with very high support needs. Academic proficiency is well below state standards across most tested grades and subjects. The school offers a conventional public school pathway for elementary and middle grades without specialized programming mentioned in available data. Parents prioritizing strong tested academic outcomes, especially in math and reading, would likely want to investigate other school options or seek clarity on the school's academic initiatives and support structures not reflected in the testing data alone.

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Academic performance

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

New York Regents Exams

1 course 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	26	12.0%

Math

Grade 39%

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

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

Grade 49%

School 9% · District 17% · ▼ 9 pts below district

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

Grade 547%

School 47% · District 13% · ▲ 34 pts above district

▼ 4 pts below state median · ▲ 12 pts above county median

Grade 624%

School 24% · District 18% · ▲ 6 pts above district

▼ 21 pts below state median · ▼ 1 pts below county median

Grade 719%

School 19% · District 15% · ▲ 4 pts above district

▼ 34 pts below state median · ▼ 27 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 310%

School 10% · District 22% · ▼ 12 pts below district

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

Grade 411%

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

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

Grade 537%

School 37% · District 19% · ▲ 18 pts above district

▼ 18 pts below state median · ▼ 2 pts below county median

Grade 619%

School 19% · District 20% · ▼ 1 pts below district

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

Grade 720%

School 20% · District 17% · ▲ 2 pts above district

▼ 28 pts below state median · ▼ 15 pts below county median

Grade 812%

School 12% · District 19% · ▼ 6 pts below district

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

Science

Grade 533%

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

▼ 8 pts below state median · ▲ 1 pts above county median

Grade 810%

School 10% · District 10%

▼ 23 pts below state median · ▼ 4 pts below county median

Social studies

Grade 838%

School 38% · district not reported

▼ 40 pts below state median · ▼ 51 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.