Harbor Science and Arts Charter School

ELA proficiency at 51.8% is roughly on par with the district average of about 49.8%, though the journey here has been bumpy: scores dipped to 35.6% in 2024 before rebounding to over half this year. Math tells a more troubling story — at 40.5% it's below the district's 45.2% average, and the year-over-year drop from 44.2% to 40.5% interrupts an otherwise upward trajectory from the 17.6% low in 2022. Science proficiency at 11.1% is the most concerning data point and points to a real weakness in STEM instruction. The grade-by-grade breakdown offers a silver lining: eighth-graders post 60% in ELA and 61.9% in math, suggesting the school does help students land on solid footing by the end of middle school.

Here's where the story gets interesting. Attendance at 82.2% sits well below the district's 87.7% average, and chronic absenteeism reaches 32.8% — meaning roughly one in three students misses 10% or more of the school year, with boys (37.7%) particularly affected. On the flip side, parent-teacher relationships are unusually strong: 97% of families trust their teacher and 100% trust the principal, an almost unheard-of level of confidence. The catch is that only 10 families answered the survey — 4% response rate — so these are powerful signals from a small group rather than a broad consensus. Teacher-reported instruction quality at 68.6% lags the district's 87.3% average considerably, suggesting a gap between how families perceive the school and how the instruction itself measures up.

Harbor's student body is overwhelmingly Black (48%) and Hispanic (47%), with virtually no white or Asian enrollment and a diversity index of 52%. The school's economic need index of 87.2% reflects deep poverty in the surrounding community, and 29% of students have IEPs — a notably high share that signals strong inclusion of students with disabilities. Class sizes average 20.1, almost identical to the district norm of about 20, but with only 210 total students across ten grades the school genuinely feels small. The East Harlem census tells a similar story to the school: a neighborhood where the median household income sits around $44,000 and nearly 30% of residents live in poverty, with very little homeownership (under 8%).

East Harlem is a working-class, predominantly renter neighborhood where nearly a third of households live below the poverty line and the typical household earns about $44,000 a year — though home values suggest there's been some pressure from rising prices even in rentals. The 37.9% rate of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher is below the city average, reflecting a community where many families are first-generation or working-class. Only 8.6% of households here include children, which is low for NYC and reflects a neighborhood with lots of adult-only households, seniors, and young professionals alongside the families raising kids.

The 110 St stop on the 6 line is essentially at the school's front door — about a one-minute walk — with the 116 St (6) stop six minutes away and the 103 St (6) stop about eight minutes on foot.