At a Glance
A screened Harlem middle school where parent trust and programming run deep, though test scores still trail the district.
Best suited for
Families who value a screened admissions process, an unusually broad extracurricular menu, and a deeply engaged parent community — and who are comfortable with a school still building toward stronger proficiency outcomes.
Overall Rating
Rating = average of NY State ELA + math proficiency, grades 3–8
Bands are Motley's thresholds on a 0–100 scale, not New York State performance levels.
How this is scored→What stands out
- Program richness score of 90/100, including uncommon offerings like bouldering, boxing, debate, and robotics alongside robust arts and music.
- Parent engagement is exceptional — 96% satisfaction, 98% trust in the principal, and a 92% family survey response rate.
- Teachers rate their own instruction quality at 100%, with collegial and principal trust both above 95%.
- Specialized High School test prep, Saturday Academy, and peer mediation reflect a deliberate college-prep orientation.
- Screened admissions process, which shapes a more academically motivated incoming class.
Things to consider
- ELA and math proficiency both trail district averages by 12–20 percentage points, even after years of improvement.
- Chronic absenteeism at 69% is a significant flag — nearly seven in ten students miss enough school to be chronically absent.
- Math results have been volatile year-to-year, suggesting inconsistent performance across cohorts.
- Nearly a quarter of students have IEPs, and the school serves a high-poverty population — families should ask about support staffing.
- The 1.33/4 overall quality rating places it below District 6's average of 1.98, with stronger charter options nearby.
Based on 2024-25 data
School SummaryDistrict 6
In a district where several charters (Zeta Inwood, Success Academy Washington Heights) score in the 90s, Hamilton Grange sits below the District 6 average overall. It is not a flagship, but it is a stable, community-rooted screened option.
Academics
ELA proficiency is 34.9% versus a district average of 47%, and math is 31.7% against a district average of 52% — both meaningfully below peers. But the trend line is genuinely upward: ELA has climbed from 15.4% in 2016 to the mid-30s in recent years, and math has roughly tracked upward from 19% despite year-to-year swings. Eighth-grade ELA (45.6%) outpaces sixth and seventh, suggesting students strengthen as they move through the school.
Culture
The climate numbers tell two stories at once. Chronic absenteeism is high at 68.9% — getting kids through the door every day is a real challenge — yet the adults in the building are strikingly aligned: 96% parent satisfaction, 97–98% parent trust in teachers and the principal, and 100% of teachers rate instruction quality positively. Discipline is light and stable (suspension rate 1%, steady at 3 per year), so the day-to-day feel is one of engaged families and confident staff rather than a punitive environment.
Community
The student body is 79% Hispanic, 11% Black, and 8% White, with an economic need index of 77.4 — well above the city average — and 24% of students classified as IEP. This mirrors the surrounding neighborhood, where median household income sits around $44,556 and over a quarter of residents live below the poverty line. The school serves a predominantly working-class, Latino community that is heavily invested in its children's education, as the 92% family survey response rate makes clear.
Neighborhood
Manhattanville–West Harlem is a densely built, largely renter neighborhood where most families live in multi-unit housing and only about 5% of households own their homes. The share of households with children is relatively low at 8.6%, meaning the families that do live here tend to be deliberate about sticking around. Getting around by subway is straightforward, with the 1 train at 137 St–City College just three minutes on foot.
The 1 train at 137 St–City College is about a 3-minute walk; the C and B at 135 St are about 6 minutes, and the 1 at 145 St is about 9 minutes.
Academic Performance
ELA Proficiency
Students scoring proficient or above on the NY State ELA exam.
NYC DOE InfoHub · 2022-23
Math Proficiency
Students scoring proficient or above on the NY State Math exam.
NYC DOE InfoHub · 2022-23
Science Proficiency
Students scoring proficient or above on the NY State Science exam.
NYC DOE InfoHub · 2022-23
Historical Trends
The dashed line marks 2023, when New York changed its grades 3–8 state tests. Scores before and after it aren’t directly comparable.
2020–2021 data unavailable due to COVID-19
Source: NYC DOE School Quality Reports
Survey Results
NYC School Survey (2025) · 258 families responded (92% rate)
Programs & Activities
Racial & Ethnic Diversity
NYC DOE InfoHub · 2022-23
Discipline
NYSED Student & Educator Database (2023-24)
Economic Need & Special Populations
How to get in, step by step
Middle school (6th grade)
Middle school is one citywide application, made in 5th grade. Hamilton Grange Middle School admits through 2 programs, and each one has its own admissions method:
- Hamilton Grange Middle SchoolUnscreened74 seats
- Spanish Dual Language ProgramScreened25 seats
Middle school application
- Opened
- Wed, Oct 14
- Closes
- Fri, Dec 11
- Offers
- Wed, Apr 7
The DOE’s published dates.
- 1Apply on MySchools during the middle school application, in 5th grade.
- 2Screened programs rank 4th-grade course grades, so last year's report card is the one that counts.
- 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
Tour
Mon, Nov 2, · 9:45 AM · In person
Dance and Boxing Night at Hamilton Grange
Wed, Nov 4, · 5:30 PM · In person
Tour
Mon, Nov 9, · 9:30 AM · In person
Fair
Fri, Nov 13, · 9:00 AM · In person
Tour
Mon, Nov 16, · 9:45 AM · In person
Tour
Tue, Nov 17, · 9:30 AM · In person
1 more on the MySchools event calendar.
From the MySchools admissions calendar, checked weekly.
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Frequently Asked Questions
- Is Hamilton Grange Middle School a good school?
- On Motley, Hamilton Grange Middle School earns an overall rating of 33/100 — the average of the school's New York State ELA and math proficiency, grades 3–8, shown out of 100. Its state test results run below the District 6 average.
- What grades does Hamilton Grange Middle School serve?
- Hamilton Grange Middle School serves grades 6 to 8.
- How do students get into Hamilton Grange Middle School?
- Hamilton Grange Middle School is a screened school — it admits by application, ranking applicants on their course grades (4th grade for middle school, the 7th-grade core-course average for high school); a few schools add an assessment, writing sample, or interview.
- Is Hamilton Grange Middle School public, charter, or private?
- Hamilton Grange Middle School is a public school in NYC Community School District 6.
- What neighborhood is Hamilton Grange Middle School in?
- Hamilton Grange Middle School is in Manhattanville-West Harlem, Manhattan.