Birch School

Summary:

Birch School is an elementary school located in Merrick, New York, serving grades PK-6 with a total enrollment of 582 students. It is part of the Merrick Union Free School District, which is ranked 91 out of 865 school districts in New York and has a 4-star rating from SchoolDigger.

Birch School consistently outperforms the state average in English Language Arts (ELA) and Math proficiency across all grade levels. For example, in the 2023-2024 school year, Birch School's 4th-grade ELA proficiency was 74.67% compared to the state average of 47.05%, and its 4th-grade Math proficiency was 85.14% compared to the state average of 58.03%. The school's Hispanic and White student subgroups have particularly strong academic performance, ranking in the top 20% and top 25% of New York elementary schools, respectively, in recent years. Birch School has been consistently ranked among the top 15% of New York elementary schools, with a ranking as high as 105 out of 2,366 schools in the 2015-2016 school year.

Compared to the nearby Norman J. Levy Lakeside School and Chatterton School, Birch School's academic performance is generally stronger. For example, Birch School's 4th-grade Math proficiency in 2023-2024 was 85.14%, compared to 88.41% and 78.26% at the nearby schools. Birch School also has a relatively low percentage of students receiving free or reduced-price lunch, around 7-8% in recent years, which is lower than the nearby schools and the state average.


Detail:

Public PK, KG-6

 2400 Central Pkwy
       Merrick, NY  11566-4100


(516) 992-7250

District: Merrick Union Free School District

SchoolDigger Rank:
295th of 2,445 New York Elementary Schools

Per Pupil Expenditures:  $23,269 Help


Student/teacher ratio:  10.7 Help
Number of students:  594

Racial breakdown:

White:
77.4%
Hispanic:
11.1%
Asian:
6.2%
more

Free/discounted lunch recipients:  7.7% Help


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Performance Trends
Help
Compare Details Birch School ranks better than 87.9% of elementary schools in New York. It also ranks last among 3 ranked elementary schools in the Merrick Union Free School District. (See more...)
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Compare Details In 2024 the calculated Average Standard Score was 85.88. (See more...)
Student Body
Help
Compare Details Racial makeup is: White (77.4%), Hispanic (11.1%), Asian (6.2%). (See more...)
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Compare Details 7.7% of students are receiving a free or discounted lunch. This is the lowest percentage in the Merrick Union Free School District. (See more...)
Teachers
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Compare Details The student/teacher ratio at Birch School is 10.7, which is the highest among 3 elementary schools in the Merrick Union Free School District! (See more...)
Help
Compare Birch School employs 55.2 full-time teachers.
Finance
Help
Compare Details The average total spent per student at Birch School is $23,269. 1 elementary schools in the Merrick Union Free School District spend more per student.
Schooldigger 2024 Rankings:

Birch School:

SchoolDigger ranks Birch School 295th of 2445 New York public elementary schools. (See Birch School in the ranking list.)

Elementary School Test Score Ratings by Student Subgroup:


Special Education students:
Low Socio Economic Status students:
Female students:
Male students:
Asian students:
Hispanic students:
White students:


Merrick Union Free School District:

SchoolDigger ranks Merrick Union Free School District 91st of 865 New York school districts. (See district ranking list.)


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Rank History for Birch School

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Rank History for all students at Birch School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools NY State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2006 83.12 207th 2206 90.6%
2007 77.88 414th 2219 81.3%
2008 78.44 384th 2227 82.8%
2009 79.61 300th 2257 86.7%
2010 86.86 135th 2263 94.0%
2011 90.31 79th 2286 96.5%
2012 86.75 177th 2320 92.4%
2013 89.72 161st 2325 93.1%
2014 83.16 296th 2345 87.4%
2015 90.67 130th 2352 94.5%
2016 91.61 105th 2366 95.6%
2017 88.57 181st 2386 92.4%
2018 82.47 331st 2395 86.2%
2019 88.38 240th 2413 90.1%
2021 81.24 341st 2201 84.5%
2022 90.24 186th 2434 92.4%
2023 86.46 302nd 2439 87.6%
2024 85.88 295th 2445 87.9%
See the entire list of New York Elementary School Rankings!

Rank History for Special Education students at Birch School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools NY State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2022 73.30 298th 2031 85.3%
2023 44.10 942nd 2016 53.3%
2024 49.27 841st 2110 60.1%
See the entire list of Best New York Elementary Schools for Special Education Students!

Rank History for Low Socio Economic Status students at Birch School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools NY State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2019 73.78 388th 2032 80.9%
2021 92.56 60th 1678 96.4%
2022 97.64 29th 2099 98.6%
2023 69.85 468th 2041 77.1%
2024 67.98 499th 2078 76.0%
See the entire list of Best New York Elementary Schools for Low Socio Economic Status Students!

Rank History for Female students at Birch School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools NY State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 80.63 358th 2338 84.7%
2019 84.71 294th 2357 87.5%
2021 76.79 361st 1955 81.5%
2022 89.96 160th 2401 93.3%
2023 85.33 308th 2403 87.2%
2024 83.45 320th 2413 86.7%
See the entire list of Best New York Elementary Schools for Female Students!

Rank History for Male students at Birch School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools NY State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 82.76 292nd 2340 87.5%
2019 89.10 200th 2358 91.5%
2021 81.44 283rd 1961 85.6%
2022 87.55 218th 2400 90.9%
2023 84.18 314th 2400 86.9%
2024 84.45 295th 2411 87.8%
See the entire list of Best New York Elementary Schools for Male Students!

Rank History for Asian students at Birch School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools NY State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2024 57.54 302nd 662 54.4%
See the entire list of Best New York Elementary Schools for Asian Students!

Rank History for Hispanic students at Birch School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools NY State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2022 72.19 299th 1503 80.1%
2023 96.06 38th 1429 97.3%
2024 92.76 82nd 1531 94.6%
See the entire list of Best New York Elementary Schools for Hispanic Students!

Rank History for White students at Birch School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools NY State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 69.96 385th 1408 72.7%
2019 79.66 236th 1338 82.4%
2021 73.38 296th 1224 75.8%
2022 84.84 131st 1399 90.6%
2023 75.49 312th 1337 76.7%
2024 76.69 276th 1392 80.2%
See the entire list of Best New York Elementary Schools for White Students!

Data source: test scores: NY State Education Department, rankings: SchoolDigger.com

As you review the school rankings data, please be aware that some of the information from certain demographics is missing. The reason for this omission is that the data has been redacted from the source data itself due to low population samples in these specific demographic groups.

Redacting data from low population samples is a necessary step to ensure the reliability and accuracy of the results, as small sample sizes may not be representative of the broader population. Additionally, this measure helps protect the privacy of individuals belonging to these demographic groups.

Birch School Test Scores
Tests: 
  
Grades: 
  
Years: 
  
Group by: 
District Scores:
State Scores:    
  
Subgroup: 






Data source: NY State Education Department

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Enrollment information for Birch School

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Year White African American Asian Hispanic American Indian Pacific Islander Two or More Races Not Specified Total
1989 547 3 14 2 0 n/a n/a 0 566
1990 520 3 12 3 1 n/a n/a 0 539
1991 518 2 10 2 0 n/a n/a 0 532
1992 531 0 14 3 0 n/a n/a 0 548
1993 556 0 11 3 0 n/a n/a 0 570
1994 576 0 16 8 0 n/a n/a 0 600
1995 619 4 13 4 0 n/a n/a 0 640
1996 619 4 13 4 0 n/a n/a 0 640
1997 611 2 18 6 0 n/a n/a 0 637
1998 612 3 19 15 0 n/a n/a 0 649
1999 625 1 23 6 0 n/a n/a 0 655
2000 660 1 25 9 0 n/a n/a 0 695
2001 671 2 18 10 2 n/a n/a 0 703
2002 628 4 18 19 0 n/a n/a 0 669
2003 628 4 18 19 0 n/a n/a 0 669
2004 628 3 17 16 0 n/a n/a 0 664
2005 600 4 14 33 0 n/a n/a 0 651
2006 590 3 13 24 0 n/a n/a 0 630
2007 582 4 13 27 0 n/a n/a 1 627
2008 537 5 13 25 1 n/a n/a 0 581
2009 535 8 13 28 1 n/a n/a 0 585
2010 522 7 14 22 0 n/a n/a 0 565
2011 495 7 23 27 0 0 0 0 552
2012 456 8 27 24 0 0 2 0 517
2013 457 11 25 25 0 1 5 0 524
2014 451 9 26 27 0 0 9 0 522
2015 437 9 28 30 0 0 9 0 513
2016 449 13 27 36 0 0 8 0 533
2017 458 12 26 40 0 0 8 0 544
2018 431 9 18 46 0 0 7 0 511
2019 461 14 20 43 0 0 8 0 546
2020 443 13 22 57 0 0 7 0 542
2021 432 12 20 59 0 0 7 0 530
2022 436 13 20 56 0 0 13 0 538
2023 464 12 30 60 0 0 16 0 582
2024 460 13 37 66 0 0 18 0 594

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Enrollment/Ethnicity

For more information about how the Department of Education defines ethnicity, see Defining Race and Ethnicity Data, National Center for Education Statistics

Students eligible for free or discounted lunch at Birch School

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Compare
Year # Students Full-time Teachers Student/Teacher ratio % Free/Discounted Lunch
1989 566 39.9 14.1 n/a
1990 539 41.9 12.8 n/a
1991 532 38.4 13.8 n/a
1992 548 37.2 14.7 n/a
1993 570 32.1 17.8 n/a
1994 600 32.9 18.2 0
1995 640 33.2 19.3 0
1996 640 33.2 19.3 0
1997 637 35.1 18.1 0
1998 649 37.9 17.1 0
1999 655 41.0 16.0 0
2000 695 44.1 15.8 0
2001 703 47.1 14.9 0
2002 669 46.4 14.4 0
2003 669 46.4 14.4 0
2004 664 n/a n/a n/a
2005 651 48.7 13.4 0
2006 630 50.0 12.6 0
2007 627 51.8 12.1 0
2008 581 51.0 11.4 0
2009 585 54.0 10.8 n/a
2010 565 53.0 10.6 0
2011 552 57.1 9.6 0
2012 517 52.0 9.9 1.7
2013 524 52.0 10.0 1.9
2014 522 50.0 10.4 0.8
2015 513 50.0 10.2 1.9
2016 533 51.0 10.4 5.1
2017 544 43.9 12.3 0.7
2018 511 46.0 11.1 6.3
2019 546 46.0 11.8 5.9
2020 542 53.0 10.2 6.3
2021 530 52.5 10.0 7.7
2022 538 54.4 9.8 7.2
2023 582 52.4 11.1 7.7
2024 594 55.2 10.7 7.7

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Students eligible for discounted/free lunch:

The National School Lunch Program (NSLP) provides low-cost or free meals to students in U.S. public and nonprofit private schools based on household income. Those with incomes below 130% of the poverty line receive free lunch, while those between 130% and 185% qualify for reduced-price lunch. The percentage of students receiving free or reduced-price lunch serves as a marker for poverty, as it reflects the socioeconomic status of families in a given school or district. A higher FRPL rate typically indicates a higher concentration of low-income families, suggesting that the school or district may face additional challenges in providing adequate resources and support for student success.

Student/Teacher Ratio Birch School

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Compare
Year # Students Full-time Teachers Student/Teacher ratio % Free/Discounted Lunch
1989 566 39.9 14.1 n/a
1990 539 41.9 12.8 n/a
1991 532 38.4 13.8 n/a
1992 548 37.2 14.7 n/a
1993 570 32.1 17.8 n/a
1994 600 32.9 18.2 0
1995 640 33.2 19.3 0
1996 640 33.2 19.3 0
1997 637 35.1 18.1 0
1998 649 37.9 17.1 0
1999 655 41.0 16.0 0
2000 695 44.1 15.8 0
2001 703 47.1 14.9 0
2002 669 46.4 14.4 0
2003 669 46.4 14.4 0
2004 664 n/a n/a n/a
2005 651 48.7 13.4 0
2006 630 50.0 12.6 0
2007 627 51.8 12.1 0
2008 581 51.0 11.4 0
2009 585 54.0 10.8 n/a
2010 565 53.0 10.6 0
2011 552 57.1 9.6 0
2012 517 52.0 9.9 1.7
2013 524 52.0 10.0 1.9
2014 522 50.0 10.4 0.8
2015 513 50.0 10.2 1.9
2016 533 51.0 10.4 5.1
2017 544 43.9 12.3 0.7
2018 511 46.0 11.1 6.3
2019 546 46.0 11.8 5.9
2020 542 53.0 10.2 6.3
2021 530 52.5 10.0 7.7
2022 538 54.4 9.8 7.2
2023 582 52.4 11.1 7.7
2024 594 55.2 10.7 7.7

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Student-Teacher Ratio

Student/teacher ratio is calculated by dividing the total number of students by the total number of full-time equivalent teachers. Please note that a smaller student/teacher ratio does not necessarily translate to smaller class size. In some instances, schools hire teachers part time, and some teachers are hired for specialized instruction with very small class sizes. These and other factors contribute to the student/teacher ratio. Note: For private schools, Student/teacher ratio may not include Pre-Kindergarten.

Immunization Rates

Birch School

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Compare
YearCompletely ImmunizedReligious ExemptionMedical ExemptionPolioMeaslesMumpsRubellaDiphtheriaHepatitis BVaricella
201399.8%0.2%0.0%99.8%99.8%99.8%99.8%99.8%99.8%99.8%
201499.4%0.4%0.0%99.6%99.4%99.6%99.6%99.6%99.6%99.6%
201599.0%0.8%0.0%99.2%99.2%99.2%99.2%99.2%99.2%99.0%
201699.1%1.0%0.0%99.1%99.1%99.1%99.1%99.1%99.1%99.1%
201799.1%0.9%0.0%99.1%99.1%99.1%99.1%99.1%99.1%99.1%
201898.5%1.5%0.0%98.5%98.5%98.5%98.5%98.5%98.5%98.5%
201998.9%0.0%0.0%99.1%99.1%99.1%99.1%99.1%99.1%99.1%
202098.9%0.0%99.3%99.3%99.3%99.3%99.4%99.4%99.4%

Data source: New York State Department of Health
Finances

Per Pupil Expenditures for Birch School

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YearExpenditures from Federal FundsExpenditures from State and Local FundsTotal Expenditures Per Pupil (All Funds)
2019 $388 (2.3%) $16,553 (97.7%) $16,941
2020 $294 (1.3%) $22,880 (98.7%) $23,173
2021 $534 (2.1%) $24,955 (97.9%) $25,489
2022 $713 (2.9%) $24,204 (97.1%) $24,916
2023 $877 (3.8%) $22,392 (96.2%) $23,269

Data source: New York Department of Education
Pre and Post Pandemic Data

Impact of COVID-19 on Birch School

The coronavirus has had a profound impact on education in America. Learning shifted online overnight, attendance numbers dwindled, and enrollment decreased. SchoolDigger.com is making it easier for you to better assess how COVID-19 has impacted your school. Through the collection of pre-pandemic (2019) and current data, SchoolDigger.com is sharing test scores, enrollment numbers and school demographics from schools across the country – and we make it easy to see how impacted schools compare locally and statewide.

Rankings

Rank
Pre-pandemic (2018-2019)
Rank
Post pandemic (2022-2023)
Change (%)
Ranks 240th of 2413 Elementary schoolsRanks 302nd of 2439 Elementary schools
 2.4%

Test Scores

% proficient
Pre-pandemic (2018-2019)
% proficient
Post pandemic (2022-2023)
Change (%)
3rd Grade English Language Arts (Birch School)7359.2
 13.8%
   3rd Grade English Language Arts (Merrick Union Free School District)7064.7
 5.3%
   3rd Grade English Language Arts (New York)5244.9
 7.1%
3rd Grade Math (Birch School)7282.7
 10.7%
   3rd Grade Math (Merrick Union Free School District)7778.8
 1.8%
   3rd Grade Math (New York)5453.7
 0.3%
4th Grade English Language Arts (Birch School)6660
 6%
   4th Grade English Language Arts (Merrick Union Free School District)7061.6
 8.4%
   4th Grade English Language Arts (New York)4848.8
 0.8%
4th Grade Math (Birch School)7676.9
 0.9%
   4th Grade Math (Merrick Union Free School District)8179.8
 1.2%
   4th Grade Math (New York)5053.9
 3.8%
5th Grade English Language Arts (Birch School)6470.4
 6.4%
   5th Grade English Language Arts (Merrick Union Free School District)6361.2
 1.8%
   5th Grade English Language Arts (New York)3845.1
 7.1%
5th Grade Math (Birch School)8183.3
 2.3%
   5th Grade Math (Merrick Union Free School District)7976.2
 2.8%
   5th Grade Math (New York)4649.7
 3.7%
6th Grade English Language Arts (Birch School)9271
 21%
   6th Grade English Language Arts (Merrick Union Free School District)7967.8
 11.2%
   6th Grade English Language Arts (New York)4745.8
 1.2%
6th Grade Math (Birch School)9388.3
 4.7%
   6th Grade Math (Merrick Union Free School District)9386.3
 6.7%
   6th Grade Math (New York)4748.1
 1.1%

Student Body

Number of students
Pre-pandemic (2018-2019)
Number of students
Post pandemic (2022-2023)
Change (%)
Total Students546582
 6.6%
African American1412
 14.3%
American Indian00
Asian2030
 50%
Hispanic4360
 39.5%
Pacific Islander00
White461464
 0.7%
Two or More Races816
 100%
% Free/Discounted Lunch Recipients5.9%7.7%
 1.9%


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Frequently Asked Questions about Birch School

Students at Birch School are 77% White, 11% Hispanic, 6% Asian, 3% Two or more races, 2% African American.

Birch School ranks 295th of 2445 New York elementary schools. SchoolDigger rates this school 4 stars out of 5.

In the 2023-24 school year, 594 students attended Birch School.


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SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau, the WNYC and the New York State Department of Health and the NY State Education Department.

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS: Not all boundaries are included. We make every effort to ensure that boundaries are up-to-date. But it's important to note that these are approximations and are for general informational purposes only. To verify legal descriptions of boundaries or school locations, contact your local tax assessor's office and/or school district.





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