J.H.S. 104 Simon Baruch

This is a clearly above-average school on the numbers. ELA proficiency is 82.8%, well above the District 2 average of about 73%, and math is 76.4% versus the district's roughly 73%. The overall quality score of 3.18 out of 4 sits comfortably above the district's 2.91. The improvement story is real too: in 2016, ELA was just 60.8% and math was 64.2% — both numbers have risen steadily, with a jump in 2023 that the school has more or less held since. By grade, 7th and 8th graders pull ELA and math into the low-to-mid 80s, while 6th-grade math is the relative weak spot at 66.3%.

The day-to-day feel here reads as orderly and trust-heavy. Teachers rate their colleagues at 90% on collegial trust and instruction quality at a striking 98% — well above the district average of roughly 90%. Parents give principal trust a 96% and teacher trust a 94%, with 91% overall satisfied (just a hair below the 92% district average). Discipline is a mixed signal: suspensions ticked up to 15 in 2022-23 before easing back to 11 in 2023-24, and at 1% the rate is meaningfully higher than the District 2 average of 0.3%. The school's daily attendance of 92.5% is fine and slightly above the district, though the chronic absenteeism figure is high — worth asking the school how they're tackling it.

The student body skews Asian (38%) and White (33%), with Hispanic families at 18% and Black families at 6%, which mirrors the surrounding Gramercy census picture: a wealthy, college-educated, predominantly White and Asian neighborhood. The economic need index of 38.9 is meaningfully lower than the citywide average, signaling fewer students from low-income households. The diversity index is 75%, so there is real variety, but the school does not look like the city as a whole. About 17% of students have IEPs, and the school runs ELL support.

Gramercy is one of the more affluent pockets of Manhattan. Median household income is about $154,000, the poverty rate is just 11%, and 83% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher — essentially a college-educated enclave. Households with children make up only 10% of the area, which means the school draws from a wider pool than just its immediate blocks. Housing skews co-op and condo, with a median home value above $922,000.

Most families will arrive via subway. The L train at 1 Av or 3 Av is each about a 7-minute walk, and the 6 train at 23 St-Baruch College is roughly 9 minutes on foot.