John Dewey High School

50 Avenue X, Brooklyn, NY 11223 · Brooklyn · High school

DBN: 21K540

High school

Unzoned

SchoolDigger: 729 (of 1234)

Niche: B · 505 (of 1400)

Academic quality

Graduation rate -- share of a cohort who earned a diploma within 4 (or 6) years of starting 9th grade.
College/career readiness -- DOE's stricter bar: graduated AND met at least one benchmark (course credits, exam scores, etc.) showing they're on track for college or a career.
Regents pass rate -- share of students who took that exam this year and scored 65+, NY State's passing threshold.

Attendance: 89.3%

68.7% attend 90%+ of days

Graduation & college readiness

4-year graduation rate

82.9%(citywide avg: 87.9%)

6-year graduation rate

85.7%(citywide avg: 91.1%)

4-year college/career readiness

53.9%(citywide avg: 56.2%)

6-year college/career readiness

46.4%(citywide avg: 50%)

Regents exam pass rates (scored 65+)

English

66.9%

Algebra I

46.4%

Living Environment (Biology)

58.3%

Global History

87.1%

US History

84.2%

Citywide comparisons are the average across high schools. Small cohorts are flagged since a handful of students can swing a percentage a lot; cells too small to report are omitted by DOE for student privacy.Source: NYC Open Data: School Quality Reports Data (2024-25 school year (latest published; checked Oct 16, 2026))

Demographics

2122 students enrolled

Economic Need Index: 84.6%

Race & ethnicity

Asian and Pacific Islander

28.89%

Black

15.13%

Hispanic or Latino

27.38%

White

25.4%

Multiracial

0.99%

Native American

0.75%

Missing race/ethnicity data

1.46%

Other groups

Students with disabilities

14.56%

English Language Learners

18.66%

Living in poverty

85.91%

Female

51.13%

Male

48.87%

Neither female nor male

Economic Need Index is DOE's estimate of the share of students facing economic hardship, based on eligibility for public assistance, temporary housing status, and household income relative to the poverty line. Some very high values are reported by DOE only as "Above 95%" for student privacy and are shown here as 95%.Source: NYC DOE: Demographic Snapshot (2025-26 school year (latest published; checked Oct 16, 2026))

Middle School admissions priority breakdown

Admissions cycle

For seats starting the 2026-27 school year. NYC DOE reports these seat/applicant figures under the school year they're for, not the cycle that filled them.

Open

106 seats

0 applicants per seat

Not all seats filled last year

Priority groups, in the order NYC DOE offers seats. Tap a group for NYC DOE's exact wording.

1. Priority to applicants whose sibling(s) will be enrolled in this school next year

~100% admitted

There were fewer than 10 applicants in this group and all received offers last year.This group's offers alone accounted for ~8% of the program's seats -- not the same as this group's own admit rate above, since offers can exceed seats (not everyone who gets one enrolls).

2. Then to District 21 students and residents

~100% admitted

There were about 10 applicants in this group and all received offers last year.This group's offers alone accounted for ~9% of the program's seats -- not the same as this group's own admit rate above, since offers can exceed seats (not everyone who gets one enrolls).

3. Then to New York City residents

~100% admitted

Estimates derived from NYC DOE's own wording, which rounds and fuzzes small numbers for privacy. Each group's applicant count is independent of the others -- schools are usually oversubscribed, so applicant counts across groups often add up to more than the total seats. That's expected, not an error.Source: NYC DOE MySchools Admissions Data (Through the 2025-26 cycle for middle school, 2024-25 for kindergarten (2025-26 kindergarten results not yet published; checked Oct 16, 2026))

See your own chances here

Which priority group your child falls into decides the odds above. The iPhone app works that out from your address and answers, then builds your whole ranked MySchools list. How it works

Download on theApp Store

School survey

Family, student, and teacher responses on instruction, safety, school climate, and family engagement.

See detailed school survey results (Families, Students, Teachers) →

More District 21 schools

All District 21 schools →