Crotona International High School

Without state proficiency data to interpret, the academic story at Crotona reads through its program design: a Humanities track, robust ELL Support, and dedicated SAT Prep, College Now, and Regents Prep offerings suggest a school focused on college readiness for English learners. Teacher-reported instruction quality sits at 91%, essentially matching the district average of 91.4%, so classroom rigor isn't framed as exceptional — it's framed as solid. The program richness score of 90/100 signals meaningful depth in how the school approaches academic support beyond standardized measures.

The survey numbers here are striking. Parent satisfaction, parent-teacher trust, and parent-principal trust all come in at 99% — meaningfully above the district average of 94% — and the 99% family response rate is itself a signal that families are engaged, not just politely answering. Teacher collegial trust is 95% and teacher-principal trust is 91%, suggesting staff feel heard by leadership and by one another. Zero suspensions in the most recent reporting period is genuinely unusual against a district average suspension rate of 0.28%, so this is a school that has built a discipline environment on something other than removal.

Crotona serves a student body that is 94% Hispanic, with small Black (3%), Asian (2%), and White (1%) populations — the diversity index of just 17% makes this one of the more homogeneous schools in a borough known for mixing. The ELL Support program as a core offering, alongside Parent English Classes, signals that a meaningful share of students are English learners and that the school treats family language access as part of its mission. The surrounding neighborhood skews low-income, so the families sending kids to Crotona are often navigating significant economic pressure alongside school choice.

Belmont is a working-class, transit-dependent pocket of the Bronx where most households rent rather than own, and only about 11% of households include children. Educational attainment is relatively low — about 13% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher — and the poverty rate is high, which means the families sending kids to Crotona are often choosing this school with intention rather than by default. The neighborhood's character is shaped less by homeowners and more by renters navigating a tight economy.

Getting here on public transit takes commitment — the nearest subway options are Pelham Parkway and Bronx Park East on the 2 and 5 lines, each a 16-to-18-minute walk from the school.