At a Glance
A three-track high school in East Williamsburg where families apply into one of three programs and suspensions have hit zero.
Best suited for
Families who want a small, themed high school with strong arts, music, or career-CTE programming and who are comfortable applying into one of three specialized admissions tracks.
Overall Rating
Rating = average of 4-year graduation, English Regents college-ready and Regents completion · DOE 2025 report
Bands are Motley's thresholds on a 0–100 scale, not New York State performance levels.
How this is scored→What stands out
- Three themed admissions programs — Law Enforcement, Computer Forensics, and Instrumental Music — drive selective entry (33–50% offer rates)
- Zero suspensions reported, exceptionally rare among NYC high schools
- Program richness score of 100/100, with offerings ranging from moot court and mock trial to journalism, mentoring, and a United Nations-style club
- Deep arts pipeline through the Instrumental Music track — concert bands, jazz band, voice lessons, drama, dance, and digital music
- Parent satisfaction at 99%, meaningfully above the District 14 average of 94%
Things to consider
- Teacher-principal trust sits at 70%, well below parent-principal trust at 96% — staff and families appear to see the school through different lenses
- Economic need is very high (90.3%), so students from higher-income households will find few classmates with similar backgrounds
- Small enrollment of 410 students means narrower course selection than a comprehensive zoned high school
- Family survey response rate is only 6%, so the parent satisfaction figures reflect a small and self-selected group of families
- Admissions are moderately selective — each of the three programs turns away applicants, so applying here is not a guarantee
Based on 2024-25 data
School SummaryDistrict 14
District 14 mixes zoned schools, a dense cluster of Success Academy charters, and a handful of screened programs like this one. With a 100/100 program richness score, the school sits among the better-resourced options in the district, offering a thematic small-school alternative to the larger comprehensive high schools nearby.
Academics
The academic picture here centers on program breadth: AP courses, ELL support, Cantonese and Spanish language tracks, coding, and three career-themed admissions programs spanning law enforcement, computer forensics, and instrumental music. The program richness score of 100/100 reflects a genuinely wide set of paths, from college-prep to CTE-adjacent. Students who pursue the Law Enforcement or Computer Forensics tracks get career exposure that most peer high schools don't offer.
Culture
Climate numbers tell a specific story: parents give the school a 99% satisfaction rating and 95–96% trust scores for both teachers and the principal, but teachers rate their trust in the principal at just 70% — a notable gap between how families and staff see leadership. Discipline is essentially non-existent, with zero suspensions reported, which alongside a small enrollment suggests a tight, monitored environment. The family survey response rate is only 6%, so the parent-side numbers reflect a small share of families and should be read with that caveat.
Community
Three-quarters of the student body identifies as Hispanic, with Black students making up another 18% — a demographic profile that mirrors the long-standing population of East Williamsburg and Bushwick. The economic need index of 90.3% signals widespread household poverty, consistent with a 24.3% neighborhood poverty rate. The diversity index of 44% indicates meaningful but not extreme variation in background; comparatively few students come from wealthier or majority-white households.
Neighborhood
East Williamsburg has become one of Brooklyn's most visibly gentrified neighborhoods, with a $1M+ median home value sitting alongside a 24% poverty rate — a split character that's visible block by block. Median household income lands near the citywide middle at roughly $82,000, and over 44% of adults hold a bachelor's degree. The L train corridor brings Manhattan commuters through, and the area's 12.5% homeownership rate reflects a renter-heavy population where long-time residents and newcomers increasingly share the same blocks.
The school sits squarely on the L train: Grand St is about a 3-minute walk, Montrose Av about 5 minutes, and Graham Av about 8 minutes.
Survey Results
NYC School Survey (2025) · 28 families responded (6% rate)
Programs & Activities
Admissions Demand
Specialized Law Enforcement Academy program. Program includes courses in criminal justice, criminology, police science, forensics, constitutional law, and family & civil law. Activities include annual moot court and mock trial competitions, internships, and community service opportunities. Partnerships include John Jay College of Criminal Justice, Fordham Law School, Brooklyn District Attorney's Office, NYC Council, U.S Probations, U.S. District Court, and many more.
Program is a combination of law and technology sequenced courses preparing students to pursue careers in computer forensics and cyber-security. Computer forensics courses involve identifying, preserving, analyzing and presenting digital evidence and cyber-security technology include processes and practices designed to protect networks, computers, programs and data from attack, damage or unauthorized access. Partnerships include LIU, PACE University, Microsoft, and many more.
This programs offers courses in concert bands, jazz bands, chamber groups and music history which result in a 10-credit sequence. This sequence fulfills the requirements for the Advanced Regents Diploma.
Racial & Ethnic Diversity
NYC DOE InfoHub · 2022-23
Discipline
NYSED Student & Educator Database
Economic Need & Special Populations
How to get in, step by step
High school (9th grade)
High school is one citywide application, made in 8th grade. East Williamsburg Scholars Academy admits through 3 programs, and each one has its own admissions method:
- Computer Forensics ProgramEd. Opt.
- Instrumental MusicUnscreened
- Legal StudiesEd. Opt.200 seats
High school application
- Opened
- Tue, Oct 6
- Closes
- Fri, Dec 4
- Offers
- Wed, Mar 3
The DOE’s published dates.
- 1Apply on MySchools during the high school application, in 8th grade.
- 2Educational Option programs fill in equal shares across three reading levels, half by the school's ranking and half by lottery.
- 3Unscreened programs fill by random lottery among the families who rank them.
- 4Rank programs in true preference order — the match places your child in the highest-ranked one that offers a seat.
Open houses and tours
Open house
Fri, Nov 13, · 4:00 PM · In person
Open house
Tue, Nov 24, · 4:00 PM · In person
Open house
Wed, Dec 16, · 4:00 PM · In person
From the MySchools admissions calendar, checked weekly.
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Frequently Asked Questions
- Is East Williamsburg Scholars Academy a good school?
- On Motley, East Williamsburg Scholars Academy earns an overall rating of 61/100 — the average of the school's four-year graduation rate, the share of its students scoring college-ready (70+) on the English Regents, and its Regents completion rate, shown out of 100.
- What grades does East Williamsburg Scholars Academy serve?
- East Williamsburg Scholars Academy serves grades 9 to 12.
- How do students get into East Williamsburg Scholars Academy?
- East Williamsburg Scholars Academy uses the Educational Option (Ed-Opt) method, ranking applicants across performance levels so seats go to a mix of abilities.
- Is East Williamsburg Scholars Academy public, charter, or private?
- East Williamsburg Scholars Academy is a public school in NYC Community School District 14.
- What neighborhood is East Williamsburg Scholars Academy in?
- East Williamsburg Scholars Academy is in East Williamsburg, Brooklyn.