Harlem Children's Zone Promise Academy II Charter School

ELA proficiency at 51.4% is essentially flat with the district average of 53.9% and has held in a narrow 50-54% band for nearly a decade — a sign of consistency rather than growth. Math is where things get bumpy: proficiency was 66-72% as recently as 2019, then collapsed to 41.3% in 2022, recovered to 61.7% in 2024, and dropped again to 42% in 2025 — well below the district average of 50.7%. Results swing dramatically by grade, from 26% math proficiency in 6th grade to 66% in 7th, which suggests the experience of attending this school depends heavily on which hallway your child ends up in.

Daily attendance of 96.3% is well above the district's 88.6%, but chronic absenteeism runs at 88.9% — nearly nine in ten students miss enough school to qualify — which paints a picture of families who come often but in irregular bursts. Parents give the school high marks for trust: 92% trust their child's teacher and 91% trust the principal, though overall parent satisfaction at 87% is slightly below the district's 90.8%. Teachers are noticeably less upbeat — only 77% rate instruction quality positively and 73% feel safe at school, both well below district averages of 88% and 89% respectively, hinting that staff experience of the building doesn't fully match the family-facing warmth.

The student body is 81% Black and 15% Hispanic, closely mirroring the working-class East Harlem community the school serves, with a tiny but present mix of other groups. The economic need index of 86.7% is among the highest in the district, and 18% of students have IEPs — meaningfully higher than the citywide share. With a diversity index of just 34%, families looking for a racially integrated school should know that this one is functionally homogeneous in its demographics.

East Harlem is a predominantly renter neighborhood where one in three residents lives in poverty and homeownership hovers around 8%, even as the median home value has climbed above $675,000 — a sharp split between longtime working-class residents and new development pressure. About 29.9% of neighborhood adults hold a bachelor's degree, and just 10.8% of households include children, which makes family-serving schools like this one important community anchors. The school's address puts it squarely on 125th Street, East Harlem's commercial spine, within easy reach of the Metro-North area and Central Harlem to the south.

Three subway stations are within walking distance: the 125 St stop on the 4/5/6 lines is about a 5-minute walk, the 125 St 2/3 stop is about 6 minutes, and the 116 St 6 stop is roughly 11 minutes on foot.