At a Glance
NYC's storied audition-only performing arts high school, where 3,200 applicants compete each year for a seat on the Upper West Side
Best suited for
A teenager with serious training in music, dance, visual art, or drama who's ready for a large, intense, conservatory-style environment and a family prepared to support the commute and outside-practice demands.
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
- Audition-only admissions, with 3,254 applicants for 181 vocal music seats alone in the most recent cycle
- Zero suspensions reported — exceptional for a school of 2,372 students
- Five world languages offered (French, Italian, Japanese, Mandarin, Spanish) uncommon even at large high schools
- Conservatory-style arts training paired with a full AP and CTE college-prep load
- 23 interscholastic sports for a performing-arts-focused school — including fencing, gymnastics, and swimming
Things to consider
- Parent satisfaction at 83% trails the district average of 88% — worth asking current families what they wish were different
- Teacher-principal trust is the weakest climate signal in the survey at 75%, even as family-principal trust runs at 96%
- At 2,372 students, this is among the largest high schools in the city — a scale some teenagers love and others find overwhelming
- PTA fundraising per student ($82) is well below the district average of $627 — families may shoulder more out-of-pocket costs for arts supplies, private coaching, and travel auditions
- The audition process is genuinely competitive, and acceptance rates vary sharply by discipline (visual art, instrumental, dance, vocal, acting)
Based on 2024-25 data
School SummaryDistrict 3
LaGuardia anchors District 3's roster of selective schools alongside the Special Music School, the Anderson School, and a cluster of Success Academy charters. It's the only audition-only conservatory in the borough, so the comparison is less academic-peer-to-peer than mission-to-mission.
Academics
The academic program is structured around arts conservatory training balanced with a full college-prep course load, including AP Courses, a CTE pathway, and five world languages (French, Italian, Japanese, Mandarin, Spanish). With ELL Support on offer, the school serves a real range of learners even as it screens heavily through audition. The program richness score of 70/100 reflects a layered curriculum rather than a single-focus track, but proficiency data isn't included in this dataset, so claims about test-score outcomes should be set aside.
Culture
The discipline picture is striking: zero suspensions in the reporting period, far below the district average of 0.39%, which suggests a calm, structured environment day-to-day. Family trust in the principal is exceptionally high at 96%, and teacher-to-teacher collegial trust runs at 84%, both healthy signs. The quieter signals worth noting: parent satisfaction at 83% sits five points below the district average, and teacher-principal trust at 75% is the weakest trust measure in the survey — a noticeable gap from the principal's strong family-side standing.
Community
With Asian 21%, Black 9%, Hispanic 16%, White 39%, and multi-racial 6%, the student body is more White-plurality than many NYC publics but still genuinely mixed, and the 78% diversity index confirms a wide range of backgrounds. The economic need index of 31.6 is moderate — lower than the citywide average — consistent with an audition-based admissions pipeline that draws committed families willing to travel. IEP representation at 4% is low for a school of this size.
Neighborhood
The school sits in Lincoln Square on the Upper West Side, where the median household income tops $162,000 and 83% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher — one of Manhattan's most affluent stretches. But only 15% of neighborhood households include children, so the families on campus mostly commute in from elsewhere. The sidewalks are dominated by professionals and empty-nesters, with the cultural anchor of Lincoln Center just up the block.
Three subway options within a 10-minute walk: the 1 at 66 St–Lincoln Center (about 5 minutes), the 1/2/3 at 72 St (about 8 minutes), and the 1 at 59 St–Columbus Circle (about 10 minutes).
Survey Results
NYC School Survey (2025) · 318 families responded (14% rate)
Programs & Activities
Admissions Demand
A conservatory approach in classical music including training in Italian, German and French song, choral ensemble singing, music history, piano, theory and ear training. Electives include: opera, musical theatre, gospel, song writing and composition.
Racial & Ethnic Diversity
NYC DOE InfoHub · 2022-23
PTA Fundraising
Source: DOE Local Law 171 disclosure
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. Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts admits through 6 programs, and each one has its own admissions method:
- DanceAuditionVirtual auditionAudition required59 seats
- DramaAuditionVirtual auditionAudition required99 seats
- Fine and Visual ArtAuditionVirtual auditionAudition required211 seats
- Instrumental MusicAuditionVirtual auditionAudition required118 seats
- Technical TheaterAuditionVirtual auditionAudition required28 seats
- Vocal MusicAuditionVirtual auditionAudition required181 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.
- 2Audition programs need a booked audition or portfolio on top of the application — book the slot through MySchools, and prepare what each studio asks for.
- 3Rank programs in true preference order — the match places your child in the highest-ranked one that offers a seat.
Open houses and tours
We haven’t seen open-house dates for this school yet.
From the MySchools admissions calendar, checked weekly.
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Frequently Asked Questions
- Is Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts a good school?
- On Motley, Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts earns an overall rating of 88/100 — 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 Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts serve?
- Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts serves grades 9 to 12.
- How do students get into Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts?
- Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts admits by audition — applicants are judged on a performance, portfolio, or talent area.
- Is Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts public, charter, or private?
- Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts is a public school in NYC Community School District 3.
- What neighborhood is Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts in?
- Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts is in Upper West Side-Lincoln Square, Manhattan.