Brilla Veritas Charter School

Brilla Veritas is comfortably outperforming District 7 on both ELA and math. The 67.6% ELA proficiency rate beats the district average of 51.3% by a wide margin, and the 56.6% math rate sits about 8 points above the district's 49%. The trend line is the more interesting story: ELA proficiency climbed from 40.5% in 2022 to 42.7% in 2023, then jumped to 48.3% in 2024 before rocketing to 67.6% in 2025. Math has been steadier, rising from 44.6% to 56.6% across the same window. Grade-level results vary — Grade 7 students posted an 81% ELA rate and 81% math rate, while Grade 6 lagged at 53% ELA and just 32% math. That sixth-grade dip is worth asking about on a tour. The school's overall score of 2.48 out of 4 also beats the district average of about 2.01.

The school reads as a high-trust environment with an engaged parent base and a staff that is still finding its footing on instructional confidence. Parent satisfaction is 97%, parent-teacher trust is 97%, and parent-principal trust is 97% — all well above the district averages and a sign that families feel heard. The 96% family survey response rate is unusually high and suggests the school has built real relationships with its families. Teachers, however, rate instructional quality at 81%, which sits below the district average of 88.4% — a flag worth probing. On the upside, 90% of teachers trust their principal and 94% trust each other, and 85% report feeling safe at work (above the district's 80.5%). Attendance is essentially average at 91.4%, but chronic absenteeism is high at 69.9% — meaning many students miss meaningful chunks of school even though the daily attendance figure looks fine. This is a common post-pandemic pattern in the Bronx and worth discussing with the school.

The student body is overwhelmingly Latino and Black — 69% Hispanic and 27% Black — with very small numbers of Asian, white, multiracial, and Native American students. The diversity index of 42% reflects a community that is diverse in the sense that two major groups share the school, but not broadly multicultural. Twenty-three percent of students have IEPs, which is a meaningful portion of the population and suggests real inclusion of students with disabilities. The economic need index of 87.5% confirms that nearly nine in ten students come from low-income households, mirroring the Melrose neighborhood around it.

Brilla Veritas is located in Melrose, a densely populated, working-class corner of the South Bronx where median household income is about $30,236 and more than a third of households live below the poverty line. Just under 16% of households in the area include children, and only about 14% of adults hold a bachelor's degree. Homeownership is very low at 10%, meaning most neighbors rent, and the median home value sits around $365,900 despite the modest incomes — a typical South Bronx pattern of limited stock and high demand. The families who send their kids here are navigating real economic pressure, which makes the school's academic gains all the more notable.

The school is well-served by the 2 and 5 trains. Jackson Avenue is about a 4-minute walk, Prospect Avenue about 9 minutes, and 3 Avenue-149 Street about 10 minutes — three stops within easy reach for families across the central Bronx.