At a Glance
An audition-based arts high school in Gramercy whose student body is far more diverse than its wealthy address suggests
Best suited for
Teens committed to the visual or performing arts who can clear the audition bar, and families who want a comparatively diverse, tuition-free Manhattan arts high school and can navigate the application and audition process.
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-based admission, with the Fine & Visual Arts track offering seats to just 20% of applicants
- Zero suspensions in the data window — exceptionally rare for any NYC high school
- A working partnership with the Vineyard Theater that gives performing-arts students exposure to a real NYC new-work venue
- Program richness rated 90/100, putting it among the densest extracurricular menus in District 2
- ELL Support and AP Courses sit comfortably alongside the arts focus, so the school serves both English learners and college-track students under one roof
Things to consider
- Teacher–principal trust at 60% is the lowest climate number in the snapshot and worth asking current staff about directly
- Parent survey response was only 6%, so the 83% satisfaction figure may overweight the most engaged families and not represent the full parent body
- Audition-based admission means access depends on prior training, transportation to auditions, and family capacity to support arts prep — not every teen starts on equal footing
- Average class size of 25.8 is essentially the district average, so this is not a place to find unusually small classes
- School-level proficiency data isn't in the snapshot, so academic outcomes need to be asked about directly with current families
Based on 2024-25 data
School SummaryDistrict 2
District 2 is home to some of NYC's most coveted schools — Lower Lab, Manhattan New School, Success Academy Union Square and Hell's Kitchen — though the peer set listed is overwhelmingly elementary. Gramercy Arts sits in the same district but in a very different lane: a portfolio high school built around audition talent, not test scores, making it the only arts-admission high school in the District 2 snapshot.
Academics
The snapshot doesn't include school-level proficiency scores, so academic outcomes are hard to gauge from data alone — a real question to put to current families about Regents and graduation rates. What is visible is the academic scaffolding: AP Courses for college-bound students, dedicated ELL Support for English learners, and a deep bench of college-prep extracurriculars (Mock Trial, Model UN, SAT prep, National Honor Society). The combination suggests a school comfortable serving a wide range of learners without leaning entirely on test-prep culture.
Culture
Zero suspensions is genuinely unusual — the district average is 0.30% — and parents report high trust in teachers (96%) and the principal (88%). The wrinkle is teacher–principal trust at just 60%, meaningfully below the parent numbers, with only 30 of the school's teachers responding to the climate survey. Parent satisfaction reads 83%, below the district average of 92%, but the family survey response rate was only 6%, so that figure reflects the most engaged families rather than the full parent body.
Community
The student body is 52% Hispanic, 30% Black, 8% White, 6% Asian, and 4% other, with 18% of students classified as IEP and an economic need index of 75.9. That's a sharply different picture from the surrounding Gramercy census area, where only 10% of households have children under 18. The school's own diversity index sits at 65%, and what stands out most is the gap between who attends and who lives nearby — this is, in practice, a citywide school.
Neighborhood
Gramercy is one of Manhattan's wealthiest and most child-light census areas — a median household income around $153,847, a 10.8% poverty rate, and 83.1% of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher. Only about 10% of households include children, and the median home value tops $920,000, lending the area a quiet, low-rise, well-kept character. The typical resident is an affluent, well-educated professional, which is part of why the school's own demographics look so different from the blocks outside its door.
Subway access is excellent: the L at 3 Av is about a 4-minute walk, and the 4/5/6 and N/Q/R/W at 14 St–Union Sq are each about a 4-minute walk away.
Survey Results
NYC School Survey (2025) · 25 families responded (6% rate)
Programs & Activities
Admissions Demand
Studio drawing and painting, mixed-media arts, photography, art history, internships at NYC galleries.
Includes drama, technical theater, and NYC internships in theaters.
College readiness program that exposes students to AP Courses throughout their four-year high school tenure. Students select courses in English, History, Math, and Science, and complete AP exams to earn between 15-30 college credits. Scholars will complete a four-year study of Theater to earn their Arts Endorsed Diploma and an Advanced Regents Diploma. In the 12th grade, students have the opportunity to apply for a 'capstone' or internship in the Arts Field.
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. Gramercy Arts High School admits through 3 programs, and each one has its own admissions method:
- Capstone ScholarsScreened
- Fine & Visual ArtsAuditionVirtual auditionAudition required
- Performing ArtsAuditionVirtual auditionAudition required
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.
- 2Screened programs rank the 7th-grade core-course average, so last year's final grades are the ones that count.
- 3Audition programs need a booked audition or portfolio on top of the application — book the slot through MySchools, and prepare what each studio asks for.
- 4Rank 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 Gramercy Arts High School a good school?
- On Motley, Gramercy Arts High School earns an overall rating of 82/100 — 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 Gramercy Arts High School serve?
- Gramercy Arts High School serves grades 9 to 12.
- How do students get into Gramercy Arts High School?
- Gramercy Arts High School admits by audition — applicants are judged on a performance, portfolio, or talent area.
- Is Gramercy Arts High School public, charter, or private?
- Gramercy Arts High School is a public school in NYC Community School District 2.
- What neighborhood is Gramercy Arts High School in?
- Gramercy Arts High School is in Gramercy, Manhattan.