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PS 721 STEPHEN MCSWEENEY SCHOOL

BRONX · NY · NYC SPECIAL SCHOOLS - DISTRICT 75 · Public

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📋 At a glance

Programs & features
Academic signals
  • 🎓 AP rigor: Bottom 6% of US high schools
  • 📝 SAT/ACT participation: Bottom 7% by test-taker volume

Composed from federal CRDC offerings, EDFacts ACGR, and other public data. Full breakdowns below.

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How PS 721 STEPHEN MCSWEENEY SCHOOL compares for families

What families should know about PS 721 STEPHEN MCSWEENEY SCHOOL.

  • LocallyNY sits right at the US average on NAEP 8th-grade math — local school quality will set your kid apart.
  • vs Similar SchoolsThe closest comparables nearby: HERBERT H LEHMAN HIGH SCHOOL, RENAISSANCE HIGH SCHOOL FOR MUSICAL THEATER AND THE ARTS, WESTCHESTER SQUARE ACADEMY and 5 more. See the sidebar to compare side-by-side.

For Parents

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SAT / ACT participation

CRDC federal data · 2020-21

Bottom 7% by test-taker volume

50th 90th
SAT/ACT test-takers
4
11th-12th graders who took 1+ college admissions test
Test-taking intensity
15.4
takers per 100 students in grades 9-12
Compared against
18,426
US high schools reporting SAT/ACT participation

Source: federal Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC 2020-21). Volume — not score — is what's reported here. A higher count means more students at this school are entering the college admissions pipeline. Note: 2020-21 was COVID-disrupted; some districts (especially those that stayed remote longer) report unusually low or zero takers.

👩‍🏫 Teacher workforce · federal CRDC

Teacher experience & reliability

% inexperienced teachers (1st-2nd yr)
9.7%
Strong: experienced corps. New teachers rotate through but most have ≥3 years in.
% chronic teacher absence (≥10 days/yr)
26.7%
Elevated. Teacher absence directly affects classroom continuity and student outcomes.

Source: federal Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC 2017-18 — the most recent vintage that publishes per-school teacher quality fields; the 2020-21 sweep had them suppressed). "Inexperienced" = teachers in their first or second year. "Chronic absence" = teachers absent 10+ days/year.

🏛️ Federal Title I context

High-poverty school

Title I Schoolwide eligible

96.0%
FRPL rate — % of students who qualify for the federal Free or Reduced-Price Lunch program. This is the underlying federal income-eligibility signal Title I designations are computed from (ESEA Sec. 1113).
0% (no FRPL) 35% TA · 40% Schoolwide 100% (universal FRPL)

≥75% of students qualify for free/reduced lunch. These schools qualify for the highest tier of federal Title I funding and typically receive extra wraparound services. Academic outcomes vary widely — check the state assessment + grad-rate tiles.

Source: NCES Common Core of Data, free/reduced-price lunch eligibility. The actual Title I designation is a district decision and may differ from eligibility — but the federal eligibility math is what we show here. We don't claim to assert whether the district formally chose to enroll this school in Title I.

Chronic absenteeism

Share of students absent 15+ days
69.9%
Well above the national average (~16%). At this level, chronic absence becomes a leading driver of enrollment loss as families rotate to other schools.
Students absent 15+ days
336
Federal definition: absent (excused or unexcused) for at least 15 of ~180 school days — about 10% of the school year.

Why this matters to enrollment: Chronic absence is the most reliable early indicator that a student will leave a school — either by transferring out, dropping out, or matriculating to a charter or private alternative. At this level, today's absentees become next year's enrollment loss and the year-after's revenue loss. For school leaders: an Enrollment Trend Audit traces this dynamic forward →

Source: U.S. Department of Education, Civil Rights Data Collection 2020–2021. Rate = students chronically absent ÷ 2024 total enrollment.

Counselor capacity

Student : Counselor
162:1
Below the ASCA 250:1 recommendation — strong capacity for college planning, course selection, and student supports.
Counselor FTE
3.0
Full-time-equivalent school counselors on staff.
Teacher FTE
107
Full-time-equivalent classroom teachers.

Source: U.S. Department of Education, Civil Rights Data Collection 2020-2021. Counselor ratio = the school's most recent total enrollment ÷ counselor FTE. The American School Counselor Association (ASCA) recommends a 250:1 maximum; the US national median across schools with on-staff counselors is roughly 430:1.

Enrollment trend & projection

Total enrollment + grade 12, NCES Common Core of Data (2021–2024).

If the recent trend holds…

At its recent rate of -2.7%/year, projecting from 2024's 481 students:

2025
468
2027
443
2029
420

≈ 61 fewer students by 2029 — a real revenue/relevance risk worth getting ahead of.

An extrapolation of the recent trajectory, not a forecast of the school's plans; ignores one-off shocks.

Nearby high schools — the local competition

The closest high schools families here also consider, and where their enrollment is heading.

SchoolTypeMilesHS enrollmentTrend
HERBERT H LEHMAN HIGH SCHOOL
BRONX
Public 0.2 1,086 +6.3%
RENAISSANCE HIGH SCHOOL FOR MUSICAL THEATER AND THE ARTS
BRONX
Public 0.2 385 -9.6%
WESTCHESTER SQUARE ACADEMY
BRONX
Public 0.2 409 -9.5%
PELHAM LAB HIGH SCHOOL
BRONX
Public 0.2 285 -16.2%
SCHUYLERVILLE PREPARATORY HIGH SCHOOL
BRONX
Public 0.2 324 -4.7%
BRONX RIVER HIGH SCHOOL
BRONX
Public 0.2 418 -5.2%
PS 12 LEWIS AND CLARK SCHOOL
BRONX
Public 0.3 7
E MONROE NEW RENAISSANCE BASKETBALL
BRONX
Public · charter 0.6 364 +208.5%

For Parents

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For School Admins looking at enrollment trends: request an Enrollment Trend Audit →