As we launch another exciting school year across our 34 schools, we are also celebrating our students’ strong performance on last year’s state tests. New York results (grades 3-8) came out last week, and our scholars and schools have so much to celebrate!

• Our oldest tested students, eighth-graders, are showing what is possible when all students have access to a great education. All of our New York Middle schools performed among the top 3% of schools in the entire state in eighth grade math—with three of our five schools scoring in the top 1%. Our scholars posted achievement results that are higher than NY’s wealthiest suburban communities!
• More broadly, across all grades and subjects, AF is significantly outperforming both New York City and state-wide averages. On the high-standards, Common Core-aligned NY test, AF students are performing 31% points ahead of the state average and more than triple the performance of the community school districts. In ELA, AF scholars are performing 15% points above the state average and 26% points above the host district average.
• Our students are growing faster than other students. Year over year, our scholars improved 6% points in ELA and 6% points in math, while the state only improved 2% in ELA and 1% in math. Our students are out ahead and increasing their lead! It also reassuring that this growth was consistent—with all AF schools achieving gains in both ELA and math.

Our Connecticut and Rhode Island schools also have successes to celebrate. While our Connecticut data is still under embargo, we can say this—AF’s Connecticut’s scores are approximately double those of our host districts. In Rhode Island, our fourth-graders are outperforming the state by 19% points in ELA and a whopping 25% points in math. Once again, our scholars’ math achievement exceeds that of many of Rhode Island’s wealthiest communities. And that’s just the high-level data. At each of our schools, you’ll find lots of individual stories of students who worked hard, grew a ton, and are now starting a new year with big smiles on their faces and big dreams for their future. We celebrate all of them—and the hard work and endless love of their teachers who helped them soar. These results will be the launch pad for this year’s victories as our students and our network continue to learn, grow, and move forward. Thank you so much for your support on this journey. None of this would be possible without teamwork, high expectations, love, and an incredible belief in the potential of our students and the future they will create for all of us.