J.H.S. 157 Stephen A. Halsey: SHSAT testers and specialized high school offers, 2022-2026
District 28 · Queens · DBN 28Q157
- 8th graders, 2026
- 550
- Sat the SHSAT
- 274
- Took the test
- 50%
- Offers
- 71
SHSAT 2026: registration October 6–30; the test is November 14–15 (School Day November 18, 9th grade November 21).
For families choosing a middle school
Getting in (Fall 2026 admissions)
In Fall 2026 middle school admissions, J.H.S. 157 Stephen A. Halsey admitted sixth graders through 3 programs (Audition, Zone Priority, ASD/ACES Program).
Its most requested program, Performing Arts Program, had 132 general education applicants for 25 seats, 5 applicants per seat in the DOE's count; only 20 of the city's 659 programs with a published figure had a higher one.
| Program | Admissions method | General education seats | Students with disabilities | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seats | Applicants | Per seat | All filled | Seats | Applicants | Per seat | ||
| Performing Arts ProgramOpen to New York City residents | Audition | 25 | 132 | 5 | Yes | 5 | 19 | 4 |
| Stephen A. Halsey (J.H.S. 157)Open to New York City residents | Zone Priority | 410 | 668 | 2 | Yes | 84 | 83 | 1 |
| Stephen A. Halsey ACES 12:1:1 ProgramOpen to students currently in an ACES (Academics, Career, and Essential Skills) program. If you are not currently an ACES student and are interested in the program, please contact acesprograms@schools.nyc.gov | ASD/ACES Program | 0 | 0 | n/a | No | 6 | 1 | 0 |
Where its students go next. The DOE lists Forest Hills High School, Townsend Harris High School and The Bronx High School of Science as the high schools its students most often attend.
Fall 2026 admissions: families applied in fall 2025 for sixth grade in September 2026. Seats, applicants and applicants per seat are the DOE’s, from its Fall 2026 Middle School Data file on InfoHub (saved by the DOE 2026-09-18), the same figures MySchools shows as last year’s demand. The DOE counts applicants this way: “MySchools shows the true number of applicants who were considered for a seat in a program, meaning this number excludes applicants who matched to a more preferred choice from their application.” (schools.nyc.gov, read October 4, 2026). Applicants per seat is the DOE’s own figure, rounded to a whole number, so 0 means fewer than one applicant for every two seats. “All filled” is the DOE’s flag for whether every seat in that group was filled; “n/a” means the file gives no figure. Seats and demand change every year; this page does not turn them into a chance of admission.
In 2026 admissions, 550 eighth graders at J.H.S. 157 Stephen A. Halsey applied to high school and 274 of them sat the SHSAT, a participation rate of 50%. Across District 28 the rate was 37%, so this school sits 13 points above it. Citywide, among public middle schools that published both counts, 39% of eighth graders sat the test. It ranks 3rd of 13 in District 28 on that measure. With 550 eighth graders applying to high school, it has the largest eighth grade of the 13 schools listed in District 28.
71 students from the school received an offer to one of the eight testing specialized high schools, 26% of its testers. Across the city, 4,023 offers went to 26,123 testers that year, 15.4%. That is the 12th highest count in the city, inside the group of 20 middle schools that together received 1,602 of the 4,023 offers.
The number of testers went from 230 in 2022 admissions to 274 in 2026, up 44. The sharpest move came between 2025 and 2026, when it rose by 64. Offers went from 56 in 2022 to 71 in 2026.
Within District 28, no school received more offers in 2026 admissions; this one accounts for 62% of the 115 published for the district.
Year by year
| Admissions year | 8th graders | Sat the SHSAT | Took the test | Offers | Discovery |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 540 | 230 | 43% | 56 | 5 or fewer (not published) |
| 2023 | 483 | 212 | 44% | 63 | 5 or fewer (not published) |
| 2024 | 563 | 250 | 44% | 69 | 5 or fewer (not published) |
| 2025 | 504 | 210 | 42% | 62 | 5 or fewer (not published) |
| 2026 | 550 | 274 | 50% | 71 | 5 or fewer (not published) |
| District 28, 2026 | 2,312 | 855 | 37% | at least 115 | |
| New York City, 2026 | 26,123 | 4,023 |
“2026 admissions” means students who sat the SHSAT as eighth graders in the 2025-26 school year and received offers for fall 2026, as in the DOE’s Fall 2026 SHSAT and Discovery Summary. “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 28 with a similar share of testers
The schools just above and below J.H.S. 157 Stephen A. Halsey when District 28’s schools are ordered by the share of eighth graders who sat the SHSAT in 2026 admissions.
- M.S. 35892% of 131 sat the test · offers: 5 or fewer (not published)
- Queens Gateway to Health Sciences Secondary School73% of 90 sat the test · 15 offers
- J.H.S. 190 Russell Sage36% of 300 sat the test · 29 offers
- The Emerson School30% of 94 sat the test · offers: 5 or fewer (not published)
- Young Women's Leadership School, Queens29% of 85 sat the test · offers: 5 or fewer (not published)
- J.H.S. 217 Robert A. Van Wyck28% of 440 sat the test · offers: 5 or fewer (not published)
See how this school ranks
In 2026 admissions, J.H.S. 157 Stephen A. Halsey received 71 specialized high school offers for 274 students who sat the SHSAT: 25.9 per 100. That ranks it #10 of 38 in Queens and #37 of 105 citywide, among schools with at least 30 test-takers.
Best middle schools in Queens for the SHSAT
Compare with…
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 J.H.S. 157 Stephen A. Halsey, 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 19, 2026.
Your child is in 6th or 7th grade
A 7th grader sits the SHSAT in fall 2027; a 6th grader, in fall 2028.
The test comes in the fall of 8th grade, so there is no deadline yet, and that is the point: starting now leaves time to work on reading and math at a steady pace instead of in the last weeks. The counts above show what happened at J.H.S. 157 Stephen A. Halsey, not where your child stands. We start with a scored official practice test, which does.
Your child is in 5th grade
Middle school applications are open until December 11.
Start with how many families applied for each seat last year: the DOE publishes it program by program. The middle school you choose is also where the SHSAT years happen, so ask the schools on your list how many of their students sit the test and how they prepare them.
- How hard J.H.S. 157 Stephen A. Halsey is to get into
- SHSAT preparation: what it involves and when to start
Dates for fall 2027 entry read on schools.nyc.gov on October 3, 2026.
J.H.S. 157 Stephen A. Halsey is a school figure. Your child needs a score.
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 28Q157; 2026 figures from the DOE’s Fall 2026 SHSAT and Discovery Summary on InfoHub, not yet on NYC Open Data. Rebuilt 2026-10-04. Method and caveats are set out on the index page. Back to all 735 middle schools.