M.S. 129 Academy for Independent Learning and Leadership: SHSAT testers and specialized high school offers, 2022-2026
District 12 · Bronx · DBN 12X129
- 8th graders, 2026
- 83
- Sat the SHSAT
- 28
- Took the test
- 34%
- Offers
- 5 or fewer (not published)
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, M.S. 129 Academy admitted sixth graders through one program (Open).
It had 36 general education applicants for 116 seats, fewer than one applicant per seat in the DOE's count.
The DOE marks its general education seats as not all filled.
| Program | Admissions method | General education seats | Students with disabilities | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seats | Applicants | Per seat | All filled | Seats | Applicants | Per seat | ||
| The Academy For Independent Learning & Leadership (M.S. 129)Open to New York City residents | Open | 116 | 36 | 0 | No | 45 | 17 | 0 |
Where its students go next. The DOE lists Eagle Academy for Young Men, Morris Academy for Collaborative Studies and Bronx Leadership Academy High School 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, 83 eighth graders at M.S. 129 Academy for Independent Learning and Leadership applied to high school and 28 of them sat the SHSAT, a participation rate of 34%. Across District 12 the rate was 29%, so this school sits 5 points above it. Citywide, among public middle schools that published both counts, 39% of eighth graders sat the test. It ranks 2nd of 9 in District 12 on that measure. Its eighth grade is smaller than most in District 12: 8th of 13, against a median of 86.
The number of its students who received an offer to a specialized high school was 5 or fewer. The DOE does not publish counts that small, so it could be any number from zero to five; this page does not guess. That is true of every school in District 12 that year.
The number of testers has held steady: 25 in 2022 admissions, 28 in 2026. The eighth grade itself shrank from 154 to 83 over the same years, so part of that movement is the size of the class, not the share sitting the test.
No school in District 12 had a published offer count in 2026 admissions: every one was 5 or fewer.
Year by year
| Admissions year | 8th graders | Sat the SHSAT | Took the test | Offers | Discovery |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 154 | 25 | 16% | 5 or fewer (not published) | 5 or fewer (not published) |
| 2023 | 125 | 18 | 14% | 5 or fewer (not published) | 5 or fewer (not published) |
| 2024 | 105 | 11 | 10% | 5 or fewer (not published) | 5 or fewer (not published) |
| 2025 | 75 | 19 | 25% | 5 or fewer (not published) | 5 or fewer (not published) |
| 2026 | 83 | 28 | 34% | 5 or fewer (not published) | 5 or fewer (not published) |
| District 12, 2026 | 1,084 | 228 | 29% | none published | |
| 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 12 with a similar share of testers
The schools just above and below M.S. 129 Academy when District 12’s schools are ordered by the share of eighth graders who sat the SHSAT in 2026 admissions.
- I.S. X318 Math, Science & Technology Through Arts83% of 90 sat the test · offers: 5 or fewer (not published)
- School of Performing Arts28% of 54 sat the test · offers: 5 or fewer (not published)
- Emolior Academy28% of 123 sat the test · offers: 5 or fewer (not published)
- Kappa III24% of 87 sat the test · offers: 5 or fewer (not published)
- Accion Academy22% of 67 sat the test · offers: 5 or fewer (not published)
- E.S.M.T- I.S. 19018% of 62 sat the test · offers: 5 or fewer (not published)
See how this school ranks
M.S. 129 Academy is not ranked for 2026 admissions: 28 students sat the SHSAT, under the 30 we require for a stable rate.
Best middle schools in the Bronx 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 M.S. 129 Academy, 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 M.S. 129 Academy, 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.
Dates for fall 2027 entry read on schools.nyc.gov on October 3, 2026.
M.S. 129 Academy 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 12X129; 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.