Brilla Caritas Charter School

Teacher-reported instruction quality at Brilla Caritas sits at 91%, essentially matching the District 10 average of 91% — a signal of consistent classroom practice rather than standout or struggling. As a K-5 charter with a structured, mission-driven model, the school offers a continuous academic path for families who commit to the lottery. Specific proficiency data points are limited in the current record, so the clearest academic signal is the steady instructional quality teachers report themselves.

The day-to-day feel here is family-forward: 94% of parents trust their child's teacher and 91% trust the principal, and 404 families returned the survey — a 99% participation rate that suggests parents feel invested and connected. Teacher-reported safety at 92% runs well above the district average of 87%, which is meaningful in this part of the Bronx. The one friction point worth naming: teacher-principal trust sits at 71%, a meaningful gap from the 91% parents give the principal — teachers feel less aligned with leadership than families do, even as they rate their own collegial relationships at 80%.

Brilla Caritas's population is 88% Hispanic, with small shares of Black (6%), Asian (2%), and multiracial (2%) students — a relatively homogeneous student body that mirrors the surrounding neighborhood. The economic need index of 91.4 signals a high share of students from low-income households, and 16% of students have IEPs, a meaningfully higher share than at many charter schools. This is a school that serves the working-class Latino families of Fordham and University Heights directly, and the demographics suggest the lottery tends to draw from the immediate area.

The school sits in the University Heights–Fordham area of the Bronx, where median household income runs around $42,700 and roughly a quarter of residents live below the poverty line — a working-class, renter-majority neighborhood (homeownership under 9%) with a relatively young population, though only about 16% of households include children. About 14% of adults hold a four-year college degree, and the median home value sits near $481,600 even in a low-income area, a sign of the Bronx's broader housing market pressures. It's a neighborhood where families tend to be tightly connected to local schools and churches.

Families can reach the school via the 4 train at either 183 St or Fordham Rd, both about a 6-minute walk; the B and D at 182-183 Sts is about an 11-minute walk.