I.S. 281 Joseph B Cavallaro: SHSAT testers and specialized high school offers, 2022-2025
District 21 · Brooklyn · DBN 21K281
- 8th graders, 2025
- 437
- Sat the SHSAT
- 162
- Took the test
- 37%
- Offers
- 21
In 2025 admissions, 437 eighth graders at I.S. 281 Joseph B Cavallaro applied to high school and 162 of them sat the SHSAT, a participation rate of 37%. Across District 21 the rate was 44%, so this school sits 7 points below it. Citywide, among public middle schools that published both counts, 37% of eighth graders sat the test. It ranks 4th of 16 in District 21 on that measure. Its eighth grade is the 3rd largest of 16 in District 21, above the median of 111.
21 students from the school received an offer to one of the eight testing specialized high schools, 13% of its testers. Across the city, 4,023 offers went to 25,933 testers that year, 15.5%. It ranks 51st of the 116 middle schools whose 2025 offer count was large enough to be published.
The number of testers has held steady: 157 in 2022 admissions, 162 in 2025. Offers went from 8 in 2022 to 21 in 2025.
In District 21, the most offers in 2025 admissions went to students from Mark Twain I.S. 239 for the Gifted & Talented (92), out of 233 published for the district as a whole.
Discovery, the DOE’s summer program that offers a specialized high school seat to disadvantaged students who complete it, counted 16 of its students in 2022, 7 in 2023, 20 in 2024 and 9 in 2025.
Year by year
| Admissions year | 8th graders | Sat the SHSAT | Took the test | Offers | Discovery |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 410 | 157 | 38% | 8 | 16 |
| 2023 | 415 | 147 | 35% | 8 | 7 |
| 2024 | 438 | 154 | 35% | 20 | 20 |
| 2025 | 437 | 162 | 37% | 21 | 9 |
| District 21, 2025 | 3,121 | 1,369 | 44% | at least 233 | |
| New York City, 2025 | 25,933 | 4,023 |
“2025 admissions” means students who sat the SHSAT as eighth graders in the 2024-25 school year and received offers for fall 2025, as in the DOE’s admissions outcomes report. “8th graders” counts the school’s eighth graders who applied to high school; “took the test” divides testers by that count when both are published. The district row adds the published counts of its schools, so its offers are a floor; the city row is the DOE’s own total. “Not listed” means the school is absent from that year’s file.
Schools in District 21 with a similar share of testers
The schools just above and below I.S. 281 Joseph B Cavallaro when District 21’s schools are ordered by the share of eighth graders who sat the SHSAT in 2025 admissions.
- Mark Twain I.S. 239 for the Gifted & Talented78% of 387 sat the test · 92 offers
- I.S. 98 Bay Academy72% of 456 sat the test · 69 offers
- I.S. 228 David A. Boody45% of 491 sat the test · 41 offers
- I.S. 096 Seth Low35% of 329 sat the test · 10 offers
- P.S. 209 Margaret Mead34% of 67 sat the test · offers: 5 or fewer (not published)
- P.S. 121 Nelson A. Rockefeller31% of 51 sat the test · offers: 5 or fewer (not published)
What to do with these numbers
Your child is in 8th grade now
Registration closes October 30. Test day: November 18.
November 18 is the SHSAT School Day; the weekend sittings are November 14/15 and November 21. Whatever the count at I.S. 281 Joseph B Cavallaro, the decision to sit the test is yours, and a scored official practice test tells you more about your own child than any school figure.
- How to register for the SHSAT, step by step
- Score an official SHSAT practice test, free
- Book an SHSAT session
Dates read on schools.nyc.gov on October 3, 2026.
Your child is in 5th grade
Middle school applications: October 14 to December 11.
The middle school you choose now is where the SHSAT years happen. These counts show how many eighth graders sit the test at each school and how many get an offer; they do not say why. Ask the schools on your list how many of their students sit the SHSAT and how they prepare them, and plan the preparation for 6th and 7th grade, not for the October of 8th.
Dates for fall 2027 entry read on schools.nyc.gov on October 3, 2026.
Figures from Specialized High Schools Admissions Tests Results (school counts) and Specialized High Schools Admissions Overall Summary (city totals), New York City Department of Education, as listed for DBN 21K281. Rebuilt 2026-10-03. Method and caveats are set out on the index page. Back to all 721 middle schools.