A. Board Updates

C. Reyes welcomed J. Zucker back to the Board. J. Zucker previously served as a trustee and has remained connected to the school through the Friends of Inwood Academy. He will serve as interim Treasurer while the Board continues its recruitment efforts.

The Board discussed the need to recruit additional trustees, particularly candidates with finance expertise. Trustees were encouraged to refer qualified candidates from their networks.

C. Reyes also reviewed the focus areas for upcoming Board meetings, including preparations for the 2026–2027 school year, academic goals, facilities and space planning, and family and community engagement.

B. Summer Programming and School Update

C. Reyes provided an update on summer programming. K–8 summer boost programming, high school Regents preparation, and credit-recovery programming are currently underway.

C. Reyes also shared an update on Inwood Academy’s first Explicit Teaching Institute. The institute brought together educators from across the United States and internationally to learn about research-based instructional practices. Inwood Academy’s new staff members and teacher apprentices also participated.

The Board was informed that the school will officially serve grades K–12 during the 2026–2027 school year with the addition of fourth grade.

A. Academic Dashboard and End-of-Year Results

B. Mercedes presented available end-of-year academic results. Final New York State ELA and mathematics assessment results remain pending.

The following results were highlighted:

• The school met its overall attendance goal of 90%.
• Elementary and Middle School attendance was 91%.
• High School attendance was 89%.
• K–2 ELA proficiency increased from 16% in the fall to 63% in the spring, compared with a goal of 65%.
• K–2 mathematics proficiency increased from 6% in the fall to 58% in the spring, compared with a goal of 65%.
• Preliminary results indicated that sixth-grade students outperformed New York City results in both ELA and mathematics.
• The Class of 2026 achieved a 94% graduation rate, exceeding the school’s goal of 87%.
• The adjusted to include SWD pass rate for English Regents pass rate was 82.1%, exceeding the goal of 72%.
• The eighth-grade Algebra I adjusted to include SWD pass rate was 63.5%.
• The High School Algebra I pass rate increased from 17% in the prior year to 32.7%, but remained below the school’s goal of 52%.

The Board discussed the importance of reviewing both proficiency and student growth. Members also recommended including mastery-level Regents results when establishing future academic goals.

The Board discussed how student mobility and backfilling affect schoolwide performance data. Members recommended separating data for students who have attended Inwood Academy for an extended period from data for students who enrolled later in the school year.

Future academic reports will provide additional context, including:

• The number of students assessed;
• Student cohorts based on length of enrollment;
• Students with disabilities;
• Multilingual learners;
• Student growth alongside overall proficiency; and
• Mastery-level Regents performance.

The Board also discussed student intervention and retention. B. Mercedes explained that retention decisions are made holistically using multiple measures and the school’s established retention process. Students who are below proficiency may receive support through intervention blocks, summer programming, after-school support, and other targeted services.

The administration shared that a STEM intervention lab and a humanities intervention program are being developed for the High School.

A. Enrollment Update

J. Pichardo provided an enrollment update. As of July 22, 2026, the school had received 727 applications, compared with 633 applications at the close of the lottery.

Current enrollment was reported at 935 students, which is above the budgeted enrollment of 909 students.

J. Pichardo reported that:

• Thirty-five students had been confirmed as discharged;
• Seven students remained unconfirmed at the time of the report;
• The school continues to backfill available seats;
• Fourth-grade seats were added for the 2026–2027 school year; and
• Additional ninth- and tenth-grade seats were added to support enrollment.

The administration continues to monitor potential summer enrollment loss and is using regular family outreach, summer-program participation, new-family engagement, parent ambassadors, athletics programming, and family events to encourage students to return for the new school year.

J. Pichardo noted that enrollment will not be considered final until students report for the start of the school year.

B. Finance Update

J. Pichardo provided a year-to-date financial update. The school remains on track financially following strategic budget adjustments made in response to enrollment changes during the prior year.

Final year-end results will be reviewed through the annual audit, which is expected to be presented to the Board in November.