At a Glance
A small, lottery-tight communication high school in Sunnyside where suspensions are zero and family trust runs near-unanimous
Best suited for
Families in or near Sunnyside who want a small, themed high school with strong family-administration trust, robust ELL support, and a remarkably calm disciplinary climate — and who'll visit in person to ask the questions the thin survey data can't answer.
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
- Zero suspensions across the entire school — a striking contrast to most NYC high schools and the single most distinctive number in this profile.
- Seven-and-a-half applicants per seat (12.5% offer rate) despite unscreened admissions, proof that word-of-mouth keeps this school full.
- Mandarin alongside Spanish in a school where ELL Support is core, not an afterthought — rare for a small NYC high school.
- A Peer Mediation program that puts student conflict-resolution in student hands, reinforcing the calm climate.
- 90/100 program richness on a campus of only 389 students — National Honor Society, GSA, Robotics-adjacent clubs, and a dozen sports for a school this size.
Things to consider
- Survey responses came from just 39 families and 28 teachers — small samples that should be read as snapshots, not verdicts.
- Teacher-principal trust at 75% sits noticeably below parent-principal trust of 98%, an internal-staff gap worth asking about on a school visit.
- Parent satisfaction (85%) runs below the district's 94% average, and the data doesn't tell us why.
- An economic need index of 80.4 means most students arrive with significant economic disadvantage — ask about counseling, college-access, and resource staffing.
- No published proficiency numbers are included in this dataset, so families should ask the school for its most recent ELA and math results.
Based on 2024-25 data
School SummaryDistrict 24
District 24's peer set in this dataset leans heavily toward elementary campuses (scores 71–84), so this small high school carves out its own niche rather than competing head-to-head with those schools. With AP, STEM, and Mandarin on a roster far broader than its enrollment would predict, it's a distinct option for families seeking a themed, unscreened secondary school in the western Queens district.
Academics
AP courses, STEM pathways, and world languages (Mandarin, Spanish) make this school's academic menu unusually broad for a campus of only 389 students — its program richness score of 90/100 reflects that. Twenty-two percent of students have IEPs and ELL Support is built into the program, meaning the school serves a wide range of learners under one roof. Families will want to ask the school directly about its proficiency trends to gauge how it compares to the district's 51% ELA and 55% math averages.
Culture
The day-to-day feel here is calm in a way that's almost anomalous for a high school: zero suspensions reported, against a district average that's already low. Parents who fill out the survey give teachers and the principal near-unanimous trust (96% and 98% respectively), though overall parent satisfaction sits at 85% — below the district's 94%. Teacher-principal trust tells a different story at 75%, suggesting faculty and leadership don't always see eye to eye even as families feel heard. Survey response was thin (just 39 families and 28 teachers), so treat all of these numbers as directional rather than definitive.
Community
The student body is 69% Hispanic, 16% Asian, 8% White, and 5% Black — a majority-Hispanic campus that reflects the surrounding neighborhood's working-class, multilingual character. With an economic need index of 80.4, roughly four out of five students arrive from households below the city's economic median, and 22% have IEPs — a school that serves a broad cross-section of learners. Sunnyside's 17% share of households with children and $78K median income hint at the working families who feed this roster.
Neighborhood
Sunnyside is a middle-class pocket of western Queens where the median household earns about $78,000 and 12% of residents live below the poverty line — solidly working-class by borough standards. Nearly half of adults hold a bachelor's degree, and just under one in five households include children, a neighborhood built around working families rather than luxury condos. Homeownership sits at 22% with a median home value near $660,000, reflecting the steady but renter-heavy character of the area.
Families can reach the school in about a 7-minute walk from Queens Plaza (E, F, R) or 33 St-Rawson St (7), with Queensboro Plaza (7) about 10 minutes on foot — three subway options clustered within an easy radius.
Survey Results
NYC School Survey (2025) · 39 families responded (11% rate)
Programs & Activities
Admissions Demand
Our school offers a focus on 21st century communication skills which included Microsoft Certification, coding, graphics, and database development. Additionally, our students also have access to a wide variety of literacy related classes which include, AP Literature, Speech, Journalism, and other associated classes.
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. High School of Applied Communication admits through one program, and each one has its own admissions method:
- High School of Applied CommunicationUnscreened
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.
- 2Unscreened programs fill by random lottery among the families who rank them.
- 3Rank programs in true preference order — the match places your child in the highest-ranked one that offers a seat.
Open houses and tours
Open house
Wed, Nov 4, · 5:00 PM · Virtual
Open house
Sat, Nov 7, · 9:00 AM · In person
Open house
Thu, Nov 12, · 4:00 PM · In person
From the MySchools admissions calendar, checked weekly.
Make this school part of your plan
Everything on this page is yours to read. An account keeps your research in one place.
No credit card required
Compare head-to-head
Explore nearby
Frequently Asked Questions
- Is High School of Applied Communication a good school?
- On Motley, High School of Applied Communication earns an overall rating of 60/100 — 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 High School of Applied Communication serve?
- High School of Applied Communication serves grades 9 to 12.
- How do students get into High School of Applied Communication?
- High School of Applied Communication admits by application through a random lottery, with no academic screen.
- Is High School of Applied Communication public, charter, or private?
- High School of Applied Communication is a public school in NYC Community School District 24.
- What neighborhood is High School of Applied Communication in?
- High School of Applied Communication is in Sunnyside, Queens.