JOHN F KENNEDY SCHOOL vs TOOKER AVENUE SCHOOL

John F Kennedy School and Tooker Avenue School sit 1.8 miles apart in West Babylon, New York, and both earn a 9.0/10 overall rating — an exceptional result in a state where fewer than 2% of schools rank this high. Kennedy lands at #82 of 4,742 New York schools; Tooker Avenue sits one position behind at #83 of 4,742. For parents focused on overall quality, these two schools are as close to identical in standing as any comparison will produce.

The clearest separation between the two is academic performance. Kennedy posts a 7.8/10 academic score against Tooker Avenue's 7.3/10 — a half-point gap that reflects measurably stronger proficiency outcomes at Kennedy. Growth scores, which capture how much students improve year over year, are nearly identical: Kennedy at 9.8/10 and Tooker Avenue at 9.7/10. Both schools are exceptional on this dimension, meaning students at either campus make strong academic progress regardless of where they start.

The most significant structural difference between the schools is economic diversity. Kennedy's free and reduced-price lunch rate is 27%, while Tooker Avenue's is 50% — nearly double. That delta indicates Tooker Avenue serves a substantially higher share of lower-income families and likely draws students with more varied academic starting points. Despite that challenge, Tooker Avenue matches Kennedy almost point-for-point on growth, which speaks to the effectiveness of its instruction. Enrollment at Kennedy is 333 students versus 292 at Tooker Avenue, and student-teacher ratios are functionally equal at 11.1:1 and 11.2:1 respectively — both well below the New York state average.

Both schools serve grades PK through 5, so grade-span is not a differentiator. The choice between them comes down to academic proficiency levels and community composition rather than program or grade structure. Kennedy's 0.5-point academic edge is real, but Tooker Avenue's identical growth score and near-identical state rank confirm it is not a lesser school — it produces equivalent student progress from a more economically diverse starting point.