Ella Fitzgerald Academy, Yonkers NY

Original Research by School Decision on Ella Fitzgerald Academy

Ella Fitzgerald Academy is a public elementary and middle school in Yonkers, New York, serving students from pre-kindergarten through eighth grade. Located at 77 Park Hill Avenue, it enrolls a small student body that is predominantly Hispanic and Black, with a high share of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch. The school sits within the Yonkers City School District, a system under mayoral governance that has recently opened its first new school in more than a decade and is undertaking a substantial facility modernization.

The school's state assessment data shows proficiency that lags substantially. In third grade, where results are strongest, about half the students meet proficiency in math and roughly three-fifths in English language arts. By grades four through eight, proficiency rates drop, with math achievement declining to under a quarter of students proficient by grades five, six, and eight. English language arts proficiency holds somewhat more steady across the grades but does not exceed the low-to-mid forties at any grade level. Science proficiency in fifth grade was around a fifth of students tested, and in eighth grade science, a very small group was assessed and none met the proficiency threshold. These results place the school in the bottom quartile of districts across Westchester County when proficiency is measured as an average across all tested subjects and grades.

When set against county peers, the school's overall proficiency index is well below the county median. Parents may want to look into further with the school what supports and strategies are being deployed to raise achievement, particularly in the upper elementary and middle grades where the decline is most pronounced.

The student composition is stable. About four-fifths of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting high economic need in the surrounding community. Roughly three-quarters are Hispanic, with smaller shares of Black students and other groups. The school draws from a neighborhood in an economically mixed and rapidly changing city. Yonkers has seen substantial recent development downtown, anchored by new film studios and waterfront projects, though the overall district has had to address aging facilities and neighborhood shifts that have reshaped enrollment.

The district context includes both investment and contraction. The opening of the Justice Sonia Sotomayor Community School in September 2024—the first new public school in Yonkers in more than a decade—signals a multi-phase rebuilding effort aimed at modernizing all thirty-nine existing schools and adding new capacity. At the same time, the district closed Museum School 25 at the end of this school year due to its lowest enrollment and substantial deferred maintenance, a reminder that some schools are contracting while others are built. That governance sits under the mayor rather than an elected school board is a structural factor that affects how parents can voice concerns and influence district direction.

For families considering Ella Fitzgerald Academy, the school offers proximity and continuity through eighth grade without a transition. The proficiency results, however, are weak, and the gap widens in the upper grades. A parent should understand the school as one in need of significant instructional improvement and should investigate directly what assessment and intervention work is underway, what professional development and staffing the school has received, and what academic supports and family engagement the school can offer their child. The broader district is investing in new facilities and infrastructure, but that investment does not yet appear reflected in sharply improved outcomes at this site.

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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 · 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
Science	41	32.0%

Math

Grade 352%

School 52% · District 50% · ▲ 3 pts above district

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

Grade 444%

School 44% · District 53% · ▼ 9 pts below district

▼ 14 pts below state median · ▼ 25 pts below county median

Grade 526%

School 26% · District 43% · ▼ 17 pts below district

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

Grade 629%

School 29% · District 45% · ▼ 16 pts below district

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

Grade 738%

School 38% · District 45% · ▼ 7 pts below district

▼ 15 pts below state median · ▼ 16 pts below county median

Grade 827%

School 27% · District 38% · ▼ 11 pts below district

▼ 10 pts below state median · ▼ 12 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 359%

School 59% · District 49% · ▲ 11 pts above district

▲ 7 pts above state median · ▲ 3 pts above county median

Grade 437%

School 37% · District 46% · ▼ 10 pts below district

▼ 16 pts below state median · ▼ 25 pts below county median

Grade 530%

School 30% · District 50% · ▼ 19 pts below district

▼ 24 pts below state median · ▼ 35 pts below county median

Grade 645%

School 45% · District 45%

▼ 1 pts below state median · ▼ 3 pts below county median

Grade 740%

School 40% · District 47% · ▼ 7 pts below district

▼ 7 pts below state median · ▼ 12 pts below county median

Grade 840%

School 40% · District 45% · ▼ 5 pts below district

▼ 8 pts below state median · ▼ 13 pts below county median

Science

Grade 521%

School 21% · District 35% · ▼ 13 pts below district

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

Grade 80%

School 0% · District 17% · ▼ 17 pts below district

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

Social studies

Grade 586%

School 86% · district not reported

▼ 5 pts below state median · ▼ 10 pts below county median

Grade 872%

School 72% · district not reported

▼ 7 pts below state median · ▼ 17 pts below county median

This schoolYONKERS 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

English language arts

Grade 3Lower-income65%Higher-income29%36 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income34%Higher-income50%16 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income33%Higher-income14%19 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income43%Higher-income60%17 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income51%Higher-income57%6 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income43%Higher-income50%7 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income28%Higher-income13%16 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income27%Higher-income40%13 pp gap