West Hempstead Secondary School, West Hempstead NY

Original Research by School Decision on West Hempstead Secondary School

West Hempstead Secondary School serves grades seven through twelve in a mid-sized suburban setting on Long Island, where rapid transit-oriented development has reshaped the community in recent years. The school itself is relatively new in its current form, having merged its separate middle and high schools in 2022 into a unified secondary institution with a single administrative team. The stated goal of that merger was to streamline the learning experience and expand course access, particularly to AP coursework.

The student body is diverse and economically mixed. More than half the enrollment qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting a community in transition as new housing development attracts residents of varied means. The enrollment reflects substantial Hispanic and Black representation, with smaller Asian and white populations and a small share of students from other backgrounds. The school serves roughly equal numbers across the grades it houses, with around a hundred to a hundred and fifty students per grade level.

State testing data is available only for grades seven and eight, so high school performance is not measured in this snapshot. In seventh-grade math and English language arts, proficiency rates sit in the mid-range: about half the seventh graders tested met the state proficiency standard in math, and slightly more in English, though participation rates suggest some students did not sit for the assessments. Eighth-grade English proficiency was similar, again near or slightly above half. In eighth-grade science, however, proficiency drops considerably lower, with about a third of students testing at the proficient level; science participation was also notably lower than in the other subjects. Grade eight math testing data is too sparse to report.

The school sits below the midpoint among Nassau County's districts on an overall proficiency index. A parent may want to look into further with the school what is driving the lower science performance and the uneven participation across subjects and grades, and what support structures exist for students not yet proficient, especially as they move into the high school years where state testing does not measure performance.

The district recently adopted an inquiry-based learning approach at the elementary level and a "workshop model" at the secondary level intended to provide more individualized teacher attention and address learning gaps in real time. These pedagogical shifts signal an effort to tailor instruction, though their actual impact on student outcomes is not yet clear from publicly available data.

The housing market surrounding the school is in flux. West Hempstead has seen substantial new apartment construction near the LIRR station, including large mixed-income developments meant to support transit-based living and serve the workforce. Home values in the zip code have climbed and remain well above state and national medians, though the market has cooled somewhat recently. For families already in the area or considering a move, the district approved a budget with no program or staff cuts and a teacher salary raise, though some community members raised concerns about reliance on reserve funds that may not be sustainable over several years. That conversation may matter to homeowners thinking ahead about future tax pressures.

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Academic performance

State test results and graduation outcomes.

Graduation rate (ACGR)

90-94%Cohort of 168 students · Class of 2021

The federal source publishes a banded range instead of an exact rate when the graduating cohort is small enough that an exact number could risk identifying individual students.

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

16 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

15 tested

86.7%

scored 3 or higher

Computer Science Principles

22 tested

27.3%

scored 3 or higher

Statistics

18 tested

50.0%

scored 3 or higher

Sciences

Biology

42 tested

57.1%

scored 3 or higher

Environmental Science

13 tested

38.5%

scored 3 or higher

Physics 1

21 tested

66.7%

scored 3 or higher

English

Research

8 tested

87.5%

scored 3 or higher

Seminar

7 tested · Grade 10

71.4%

scored 3 or higher

History and Social Sciences

U.S. History

28 tested

82.1%

scored 3 or higher

World Languages and Cultures

Spanish Language and Culture

18 tested

72.2%

scored 3 or higher

Arts

Studio Art Drawing

2 tested

0.0%

scored 3 or higher

Other

Language and Comp

41 tested

53.7%

scored 3 or higher

Literature and Comp

20 tested

80.0%

scored 3 or higher

Studio Art 2d Design

10 tested

60.0%

scored 3 or higher

U S Government and Politics

29 tested

89.7%

scored 3 or higher

World History

35 tested · Grade 10

57.1%

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
Math	188	69.0%
Ela	155	94.0%
Social Studies	147	88.0%
Science	35	40.0%

Math

Grade 755%

School 55% · District 54% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▲ 2 pts above state median · ▼ 13 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 755%

School 55% · District 55% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▲ 8 pts above state median · ▼ 3 pts below county median

Grade 856%

School 56% · District 56%

▲ 8 pts above state median · even with county median

Science

Grade 834%

School 34% · District 34%

▲ 1 pts above state median · ▲ 13 pts above county median

This schoolWEST HEMPSTEAD UNION FREE 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

English language arts

Grade 7Lower-income48%Higher-income63%15 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income44%Higher-income66%22 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 7Lower-income47%Higher-income64%17 pp gap