Sachem High School North, Lake Ronkonkoma NY

Original Research by School Decision on Sachem High School North

Sachem High School North is a mid-sized public high school serving grades nine through twelve in Lake Ronkonkoma, a car-oriented hamlet and census-designated place in central Long Island. The school draws from a diverse student body reflective of the area's residential composition, with a mix of long-established neighborhoods, apartment complexes, and newer housing tied to the major Station Yards transit-oriented development around the nearby Ronkonkoma LIRR station.

The enrollment is distributed fairly evenly across the four grades, with a substantial share of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating economic diversity within the student population. The school's racial and ethnic composition is predominantly white with meaningful representation from Hispanic, Asian, and Black students. State assessment and graduation data were not available, so a parent cannot evaluate proficiency rates or college-readiness outcomes from this profile.

Lake Ronkonkoma itself is anchored by the largest freshwater lake on Long Island, ringed by county and town parks that provide walking trails, sports facilities, and beaches. The Ronkonkoma LIRR station, the busiest in Suffolk County, is a major daily commuter gateway, and Long Island MacArthur Airport sits nearby. The area's economy centers on the airport and on a cluster of technology and manufacturing firms including Zebra Technologies, one of Long Island's largest high-tech employers. The hamlet is experiencing significant growth through Station Yards, a major redevelopment spanning roughly fifty acres around the rail station, with hundreds of residential units under construction and planned through the mid-2020s. Median home values in Ronkonkoma run lower than some neighboring hamlets, drawing New York City commuters seeking to relocate while maintaining access to the city.

The Sachem Central School District, which operates the school, has faced recurring budget strain. In 2024, voters rejected a budget that would have pierced the state tax cap, prompting program cuts and a revote. For the 2025-26 school year, the district grappled with a multimillion-dollar budget gap and briefly considered closing a school before adopting a budget that drew on reserves to preserve curricular programs, drama, music, and most athletic programs. In May 2025, voters defeated a proposition that would have sharply reduced school bus eligibility, raising walking distances and quadrupling the number of students without bus service; its defeat kept busing in place. These budget and operational pressures are a context families should monitor as they consider enrollment or residence in the district.

Housing in the broader Ronkonkoma area reflects moderate affordability for Long Island, with the market supporting both established single-family homes and newly built apartment complexes tied to Station Yards. Rents have declined slightly in recent months, while home values have ticked upward modestly. The area remains accessible to commuters prioritizing rail access over local housing costs.

A parent may want to connect directly with the school to understand its specific academic offerings, course sequencing, Advanced Placement availability, special education services, and counseling supports, as those program details were not included in the available data. State testing results would also inform the school's academic standing and student achievement profile.

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Academic performance

How students graduate and prepare for what comes next.

Graduation rate (ACGR)

95.0%Cohort of 527 students · Class of 2021

How this school compares to all schools in this state

Each dot is one school’s SY 2020-21 graduation rate, binned by integer rate. Taller columns mean more schools at that rate. This school is highlighted.

1,253 schools plotted. 14 additional schools' rates are federally suppressed and not shown. Data: EDFacts SY 2020-21.

Advanced Placement & IB

30 subjects offered · 2023-24

Each card is one AP or IB subject. The headline number is the share of students scoring 3 or higher on the exam — the threshold for college credit at most universities. The bar below each rate shows the underlying distribution across performance levels.

Score:12· no credit345· extremely well qualified

Math and Computer Science

Calculus AB

54 tested · Grade 9, Grade 10

88.9%

scored 3 or higher

Calculus BC

20 tested

90.0%

scored 3 or higher

Computer Science A

24 tested · Grade 10

83.3%

scored 3 or higher

Computer Science Principles

38 tested · Grade 9, Grade 10, HS

84.2%

scored 3 or higher

Statistics

65 tested · Grade 9, Grade 10, HS

64.6%

scored 3 or higher

Sciences

Biology

51 tested · Grade 10

90.2%

scored 3 or higher

Chemistry

66 tested

93.9%

scored 3 or higher

Environmental Science

64 tested · Grade 9, Grade 10

67.2%

scored 3 or higher

Physics 1

70 tested · Grade 9, HS

45.7%

scored 3 or higher

Physics C: Electricity and Magnetism

15 tested

73.3%

scored 3 or higher

Physics C: Mechanics

17 tested

88.2%

scored 3 or higher

English

Research

18 tested

77.8%

scored 3 or higher

Seminar

40 tested · Grade 9, Grade 10, HS

90.0%

scored 3 or higher

History and Social Sciences

Comparative Government and Politics

22 tested

68.2%

scored 3 or higher

Human Geography

80 tested · Grade 9, Grade 10

53.8%

scored 3 or higher

Macroeconomics

44 tested · Grade 9

65.9%

scored 3 or higher

Microeconomics

44 tested · Grade 9

81.8%

scored 3 or higher

Psychology

90 tested · Grade 9

74.4%

scored 3 or higher

U.S. History

147 tested · Grade 9, HS

83.7%

scored 3 or higher

World Languages and Cultures

French Language and Culture

3 tested

0.0%

scored 3 or higher

German Language and Culture

1 tested

0.0%

scored 3 or higher

Italian Language and Culture

2 tested

0.0%

scored 3 or higher

Spanish Language and Culture

36 tested

63.9%

scored 3 or higher

Arts

Art History

4 tested · Grade 9

0.0%

scored 3 or higher

Music Theory

7 tested · Grade 10

0.0%

scored 3 or higher

Other

Language and Comp

98 tested

73.5%

scored 3 or higher

Literature and Comp

56 tested · Grade 9

92.9%

scored 3 or higher

Studio Art 2d Design

7 tested

85.7%

scored 3 or higher

U S Government and Politics

34 tested

91.2%

scored 3 or higher

World History

149 tested · Grade 9, Grade 10

71.8%

scored 3 or higher

New York Regents Exams

4 courses reported · 2024-25

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
Social Studies	517	88.0%
Ela	489	87.0%
Math	358	86.0%
Science	66	39.0%

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.