Community Health Academy of the Heights

Both ELA (32.2%) and math (25.5%) proficiency sit well below the District 6 averages of roughly 47% and 52% respectively — a meaningful gap. The long view is more encouraging: in 2016 this school posted 25.4% ELA and just 16.4% math, so math proficiency has climbed nearly 10 percentage points over the decade. Scores peaked around 2018-2019 and have softened since — ELA dipped to 28.7% in 2024 before nudging back to 32.2%, while math hovers in the high 20s — so the trajectory looks more like a slow climb with bumps than steady improvement. The grade-7 cohort in particular posted only 22.4% ELA, the weakest in the building.

By survey, this is one of the most trusted schools in the district: 99% parent satisfaction, 99% parent-teacher trust, 98% teacher-reported instruction quality, and zero suspensions — a striking contrast to the district average of about 0.4% suspensions. Teacher-principal trust is 97% and collegial trust among teachers is 99%, suggesting staff feel supported and aligned. The catch is attendance: the 88.8% attendance rate sits a few points below the district average, and chronic absenteeism runs at 65.6%, with Hispanic students at 67.9% — meaning many students are missing enough school to be flagged. Day-to-day, the school likely feels calm and family-warm, but families should know that getting kids in the building consistently is a real challenge here.

The student body is 86% Hispanic, 10% Black, and tightly aligned with the surrounding Washington Heights community, which is itself predominantly Latino and working-class — the school's 88.8% economic need index reflects that. About a quarter of students have IEPs and there is dedicated ELL support, so a meaningful share of families arrive speaking Spanish at home. With a diversity index of just 29%, this is a demographically focused school rather than a broadly diverse one, and that's not necessarily a weakness — it's a school that reflects its neighborhood.

Washington Heights (South) is a working-class, predominantly Latino neighborhood where median household income sits around $55,786 and about one in five residents lives below the poverty line. Homeownership is unusually low at 8%, meaning most families around the school rent, and just 9% of households have children — a surprisingly small family footprint for an area that often reads as family-oriented. College-degree attainment is around 34%, and the median home value is over $750,000 despite modest incomes, a classic NYC affordability squeeze.

The school is genuinely well-connected by subway: the 1 train at 157 St is about a 4-minute walk, the C at 163 St-Amsterdam Av is also about a 4-minute walk, and the C at 155 St is roughly a 5-minute walk.