The top reported proficiency rate is 6% in English language arts. The lowest is 0% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Greenburgh Academy
Greenburgh Academy is a special-education school serving grades five through twelve, located in Yonkers, and operated by the Greenburgh-North Castle Union Free School District. The school is one of four academies in the district, which functions as a special-education placement district, meaning students are referred into it by their home districts rather than chosen by families relocating to the area. This is fundamentally different from a traditional residential school district.
The student body is small and reflects the wider Yonkers demographic profile. The enrollment is distributed heavily toward upper grades, with the vast majority of students in the eleventh and twelfth grade cohorts. The student population is majority Hispanic and Black, with smaller numbers of White and Asian students. A modest share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, suggesting an overall pattern of economic diversity within the enrollment.
The school's academic picture is limited by the scope of state testing data available. Standardized assessment results on file come from the 2005-06 school year, which is now substantially out of date; no newer proficiency data is present in the records. Those older results showed minimal proficiency rates in math and English language arts across the middle grades tested. The data does not provide a current academic profile, and a parent would need to contact the school directly to understand current performance and instruction. State testing in grades five through eight is standard, but for a school serving a special-education population with a stated mission around skill-building and career preparation, standardized test proficiency may not be the school's primary measure of success.
The school's peer group, as measured against other districts in Westchester County, places it at the bottom quartile in overall proficiency index, but this comparison sits outside the context of the school's special-education designation and the fact that newer data is unavailable. Most districts in Westchester County serve general-education populations, so a direct apples-to-apples comparison is limited in meaning.
The district operates day and residential programs. Kaplan Career Academy, one of the district's four special-education schools, recently secured a long-term lease and relocated to a larger facility in Wappingers Falls, allowing the school to expand its enrollment and serve students from early elementary ages through age twenty-two. For families whose children have been referred to the district for special-education placement, this expansion and the establishment of a long-term facility footprint offer security around program continuity and capacity.
Yonkers itself is a dense, mixed-income city undergoing downtown waterfront revitalization. The city ranks third in population among New York State cities and is walkable in its core urban neighborhoods. Downtown is anchored by a restored waterfront, the Beaux-Arts Yonkers train station with Metro-North and Amtrak service, and a growing film-studio campus employment hub. Housing values in the Yonkers zip code have grown at a rate above the state average. The broader economic base includes health care, education, rail manufacturing, retail, and entertainment; the city is pursuing a state revitalization initiative to further develop downtown. For families with school-age children in the district's referred population, the city offers public library branches, multiple parks with trails and recreational facilities, and transit connectivity.
Greenburgh Academy is not positioned as a choice school for neighborhood enrollment; it is a destination for students whose home districts have identified special-education needs and made a referral. The school's role is to provide instruction and support in a specialized setting. A parent considering or placed at this school would benefit from speaking directly with the administration about current curriculum, career-pathway programs, and the full scope of available services, as the publicly available data does not yet reflect recent years' programming and outcomes.
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