« District 21

I.S. 281 Joseph B Cavallaro

21K281

06,07,08 - Brooklyn, District 21

8787 24 AVENUE (get directions)

$37.40/student (PTA & enrollment SY2024-25)

1,105 students (SY2025-26)

[email protected] budget $3,742,700 ($3,387/student)

Attendance: 92.6%

ELA Course Pass Rate: 97%

Math Course Pass Rate: 96.8%

Overview

I.S. 281 Joseph B Cavallaro is a junior high-intermediate-middle school (grades 06,07,08) in Brooklyn, Community School District 21.

Enrollment & demographics

School year	Total enrollment
2013-14	1,177
2014-15	1,159
2015-16	1,160
2016-17	1,290
2017-18	1,334
2018-19	1,346
2019-20	1,259
2020-21	1,189
2021-22	1,172
2022-23	1,170
2023-24	1,236
2024-25	1,203
2025-26	1,105

% female: 46.1% (2025-26)

% poverty: 83.7% (2025-26)

% students with disabilities: 20.5% (2025-26)

% English language learners: 23.4% (2025-26)

Data year

Mixed years. Each share is the newest year this school published it, shown next to the number.

Race / ethnicity

DOE reports race and ethnicity. It does not publish country of nationality.

Asian: 39.5% (2025-26)

Black: 5.8% (2025-26)

Hispanic: 25.9% (2025-26)

White: 26.7% (2025-26)

Multi-racial: 1.4% (2025-26)

Native American: 0.6% (2025-26)

Economic Need Index: 0.79 (DOE's poverty/need composite score, 0-1)

Academic / quality

Attendance: 92.6%

ELA Course Pass Rate: 97%

Math Course Pass Rate: 96.8%

Year	Metric	Value
2024	Attendance	92.6%
2024	ELA course pass rate	97%
2024	Math course pass rate	96.8%
2023	Attendance	92.9%
2023	ELA course pass rate	98.2%
2023	Math course pass rate	97.2%
2022	Attendance	93%
2022	ELA course pass rate	98.1%
2022	Math course pass rate	97.8%
2021	Attendance	92.7%
2021	ELA course pass rate	98.9%
2021	Math course pass rate	97.8%
2020	Attendance	88.6%
2020	ELA course pass rate	99.4%
2020	Math course pass rate	99.6%
2019	Attendance	94.9%
2019	ELA course pass rate	97.8%
2019	Math course pass rate	97.1%
2018	Attendance	94%
2018	ELA course pass rate	98.7%
2018	Math course pass rate	98.6%
2017	ELA course pass rate	98.5%
2017	Math course pass rate	97.1%
2016	ELA course pass rate	97.5%
2016	Math course pass rate	96.3%
2015	ELA course pass rate	97.6%
2015	Math course pass rate	96.4%

See the full report on DOE's site for every metric this dataset publishes.

State tests

Mean scale score on the New York State test for the grades this school serves. The percent is students at level 3 or 4, not a percentile rank. Scores from 2023 on use the current standards and are not comparable to earlier years. High school SAT section scores stay in Academic / quality.

Year	Grade	Test	Mean scale score	Level 3+4	Tested
2026	6	ELA	443	48.3%	267
2026	6	Math	456	59.3%	275
2026	7	ELA	446	45%	353
2026	7	Math	465	65.2%	362
2026	8	ELA	450	54.2%	397
2026	8	Math	464	70%	400
2026	8	Science	457	64.5%	403
2025	6	ELA	449	54%	326
2025	6	Math	456	54.2%	349
2025	7	ELA	452	58.1%	372
2025	7	Math	466	70.2%	389
2025	8	ELA	451	51.5%	379
2025	8	Math	468	70.5%	400
2025	8	Science	453	53.2%	402
2024	6	ELA	446	49.9%	335
2024	6	Math	457	58.9%	365
2024	7	ELA	451	57.3%	347
2024	7	Math	470	68.1%	360
2024	8	ELA	452	56.5%	363
2024	8	Math	473	73.1%	346
2024	8	Science	451	50.9%	407
2023	6	ELA	447	47.6%	311
2023	6	Math	456	54.5%	352
2023	7	ELA	453	57.9%	342
2023	7	Math	464	64.6%	396
2023	8	ELA	456	65.3%	337
2023	8	Math	466	69.2%	377
2022	6	ELA	606	64.9%	342
2022	6	Math	601	44.3%	366
2022	7	ELA	609	63%	327
2022	7	Math	606	51%	345
2022	8	ELA	604	55.3%	360
2022	8	Math	602	42.4%	255
2019	6	ELA	599	51.2%	373
2019	6	Math	606	60.3%	380
2019	7	ELA	603	47.8%	400
2019	7	Math	610	58.5%	414
2019	8	ELA	605	59.8%	458
2019	8	Math	615	64.5%	473
2018	6	ELA	602	56.6%	389
2018	6	Math	604	51.7%	408
2018	7	ELA	605	51%	457
2018	7	Math	606	55.1%	468
2018	8	ELA	604	57.5%	372
2018	8	Math	607	47.9%	288

Specialized high school offers

Share of 8th graders in high-school admissions who received an offer to a testing specialized high school. A cell of 0-5 is DOE's suppression for a small count, so that year has no percent.

Year	In HS admissions	Took SHSAT	Offers	Offer rate
2025	437	162	21	4.8%
2024	438	154	20	4.6%
2023	415	147	8	1.9%
2022	410	157	8	2%

School budget (Galaxy)

Allocated school budget from DOE Galaxy. Fair Student Funding is the main flexible allocation. This is the budget, not dollars already spent. Per student uses the latest enrollment, which can be a different year than the fiscal year. Figures as of 2026-10-23.

Fiscal year	Total budget	Fair Student Funding	Per student
FY 2027	$3,742,700	not reported	$3,387
FY 2026	$3,233,383	not reported	$2,926

FY 2027 line items

Allocation	Amount
Title I SWP	$1,157,820
Contract for Excellence FY 2024	$588,003
TL C4E FSF	$472,422
TL CB School Staff	$333,088
Contract for Excellence FY 09	$326,190
C4E Class Size Transition	$225,144
IDEA RS IEP Para	$209,950
Class Size Reduction C4E Phase In	$113,625
Title I SWP STH	$112,217
CC Sub Abuse	$107,386
High Need Support for Title I	$29,779
Title III LEP	$27,950
Title I SWP Parent and Family Engagement	$11,578
Title IV Safe Healthy Counseling Summer Rising	$7,027
Title III LEP Carryover	$5,740
Title I SWP Translation Services	$4,102
TL Bilingual Revital PS	$4,000
High Need Support for Title I STH	$2,886
TL Bilingual Revital OTPS	$2,000
Private Grnt 36-URBAN ADV MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTRY	$1,574
Rollover PG 43 URBAN ADVNTG AMERIC MSM NATRL HSTRY	$219

PTA funding (LL171)

$37.40/student (PTA & enrollment SY2024-25)

PTA/PA fundraising per enrolled student - higher generally means a more active parent fundraising community, not a DOE quality signal.

School year	Beginning balance	Total income	Total expenses	Ending balance
2024-25	$3,849	$44,987	$40,790	$4,197

Sources & methodology

A free, DOE / NYC Open Data-only tool. No paid ranking data (GreatSchools, Niche, or similar) anywhere on this site.

Data from NYC Department of Education and NYC Open Data. Free and public - no accounts, no paid ranking data.