Bronx School for Law, Government and Justice

ELA proficiency of 36.9% and math proficiency of 33.6% both land below the district averages of roughly 45% in each subject, and the school's overall score of 1.41 out of 4 trails the district's 1.79. The trend is discouraging — ELA climbed from 39.9% in 2016 to a peak of 53.9% in 2018, held in the high 40s and low 50s through 2023, then dropped to 36.9% by 2025. Math is more volatile, dipping as low as 15.1% in 2022 and currently sitting at 33.6%. By grade, 7th graders are the bright spot (40.7% ELA, 47.7% math) while 6th graders are coming in well behind.

The day-to-day feel is warm and orderly: zero suspensions against a district average of 0.4% is genuinely remarkable, and parent trust is strong — 94% of families trust their teacher and 94% trust the principal, even though overall parent satisfaction sits a touch below the district norm at 90%. Teachers rate the quality of instruction at 92%, above the district's 90.2%, and 85% trust their principal, which is healthy. The one number that should give any parent pause is chronic absenteeism at 72.1% — more than seven in ten students are missing too many days, and it's worse for female students (78.3%) and Hispanic students (74.3%). Attendance rate of 92.1% looks fine on the surface, but the chronic-absenteeism figure suggests a lot of kids are struggling to show up consistently. Teacher collegial trust is the lowest staff number at 72%, worth asking about.

The student body is 75% Hispanic and 22% Black, with very small Asian, White, and Native American populations — a diversity index of 38% that reflects a fairly concentrated demographic profile. This mirrors the surrounding Concourse neighborhood, where the median household income is about $40,255 and about a third of households live below the poverty line. The economic need index of 90.8% confirms that nearly all students come from low-income backgrounds, and 24% have IEPs. It's a community that reflects its neighborhood rather than drawing from across the borough.

Concourse-Concourse Village is a working-class, densely urban Bronx neighborhood where about 13.7% of households have children, median household income sits around $40,255, and roughly 34% of residents live below the poverty line. Homeownership is unusually low at 11.1%, so most families rent, and the median home value of about $350,487 reflects a market shaped by co-ops and apartment buildings. Only about 15.8% of adults hold a bachelor's degree, which is important context for understanding the pipeline this school draws from — many students are the first in their families headed toward college.

The school is genuinely walkable to transit: 167 St on the B and D lines is about a 9-minute walk, and 161 St-Yankee Stadium is roughly 8 minutes away on both the B/D and the 4 train. That's three train lines within a short walk, which is a real advantage for a Bronx middle and high school.