At a Glance
An alternative learning center in the heart of Jamaica, serving grades 6 through 12 — a second-chance school built for students who haven't thrived in traditional settings.
Best suited for
Students who have struggled in a traditional school setting and need a more flexible, alternative path, and families who rely on public transit and want a centrally located option.
What stands out
- Serves grades 6 through 12, an unusually wide age range for an alternative learning center, which typically focuses on high schoolers.
- Class size of 24.5 matches the District 28 average, despite the school's alternative mission.
- Sits within a 9-minute walk of three subway lines (E, J, Z, and the F at two stations), one of the best-served locations in Queens.
- Located in Jamaica, a regional transit and commercial hub with direct access to JFK Airport.
- Alternative setting designed for students who haven't succeeded in traditional schools — a fundamentally different mission than a zoned school.
Things to consider
- This is an alternative learning center, not a traditional school — it's built for students who need a different path, not families shopping for the highest-ranked zoned option.
- No state proficiency data is reported, which makes academic benchmarking impossible; families should weigh graduation and credit-recovery outcomes instead.
- Jamaica's low homeownership rate (24%) and lower bachelor's-degree rate (24%) reflect economic challenges that shape the surrounding community.
- Survey data on safety, instruction quality, and parent satisfaction is unavailable, so climate has to be evaluated through visits and conversations with current families.
- The wide 6–12 grade span means middle-schoolers and high-schoolers share a building, which works well for some families and not for others.
Based on 2023-24 data
School SummaryDistrict 28
District 28 includes some of Queens' highest-performing traditional schools — the peer list is dominated by elementary campuses scoring 85 to 97 out of 100 — but an ALC operates on a completely different metric. This school should be judged against other alternative programs, not the district's flagship zoned schools.
Academics
No state proficiency results are reported for this school, which is typical of ALC populations — students here often arrive mid-year, are overage for their grade, or have already left traditional schools. Without reported ELA, math, or science scores, academic performance can't be benchmarked against the district's roughly 63% proficiency averages. Families should evaluate this school on graduation outcomes, credit recovery, and re-engagement rather than test scores.
Culture
Survey responses on trust, safety, instruction quality, and parent satisfaction aren't reported for this school, and attendance figures aren't included either. ALCs generally operate with smaller, more flexible environments, credit-recovery structures, and closer adult-to-student relationships — but specifics for this site aren't available in the data. Discipline trajectory and parent engagement can't be assessed without suspension rates and survey results.
Community
Student-body demographics aren't reported in the data, so the school community is best understood through the neighborhood it sits in. Jamaica is a working-class, renter-majority area where only about a quarter of adults hold a bachelor's degree and roughly 17% of residents live below the poverty line. A quarter of households include children, and the low homeownership rate of 24% reflects a transient, often immigrant-rooted population. Families considering this school should expect a community shaped by economic diversity rather than a homogeneous demographic profile.
Neighborhood
Jamaica is one of central Queens' busiest and most densely populated neighborhoods, with a median household income around $62,000 and a renter-majority housing market where only about 24% of households own their homes. The neighborhood has a strong working-class character and a large immigrant presence, reflected in the relatively low 24% rate of adults with a bachelor's degree. Roughly a quarter of households include children, and the area functions as a transit and commercial hub for southeast Queens.
The school is exceptionally well-connected by subway — Sutphin Blvd–Archer Av–JFK Airport (E, J, Z) is about a 4-minute walk, Sutphin Blvd (F) about 5 minutes, and Parsons Blvd (F) about 9 minutes.
How to get in, step by step
Middle school (6th grade)
Middle school is one citywide application, made in 5th grade. We don't have Sutphin HS ALC (ALC)'s program list, so read how each of its programs admits on MySchools before you rank it.
Middle school application
- Opened
- Wed, Oct 14
- Closes
- Fri, Dec 11
- Offers
- Wed, Apr 7
The DOE’s published dates.
- 1Apply on MySchools during the middle school application, in 5th grade.
- 2Rank programs in true preference order — the match places your child in the highest-ranked one that offers a seat.
High school (9th grade)
High school is one citywide application, made in 8th grade. We don't have Sutphin HS ALC (ALC)'s program list, so read how each of its programs admits on MySchools before you rank it.
High school application
- Opened
- Tue, Oct 6
- Closes
- Fri, Dec 4
- Offers
- Wed, Mar 3
The DOE’s published dates.
- 1Apply on MySchools during the high school application, in 8th grade.
- 2Rank programs in true preference order — the match places your child in the highest-ranked one that offers a seat.
Open houses and tours
We haven’t seen open-house dates for this school yet.
From the MySchools admissions calendar, checked weekly.
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Frequently Asked Questions
- Is Sutphin HS ALC (ALC) a good school?
- Published quality ratings aren't available for Sutphin HS ALC (ALC) yet on Motley. It's a public school serving grades 6 to 12 in Jamaica.
- What grades does Sutphin HS ALC (ALC) serve?
- Sutphin HS ALC (ALC) serves grades 6 to 12.
- Is Sutphin HS ALC (ALC) public, charter, or private?
- Sutphin HS ALC (ALC) is a public school in NYC Community School District 28.
- What neighborhood is Sutphin HS ALC (ALC) in?
- Sutphin HS ALC (ALC) is in Jamaica, Queens.