At a Glance
A PK-8 screened school in East Harlem where parent trust runs high even as academics play catch-up
Best suited for
Families who want a screened PK-8 with a tight-knit, family-engaged community and an easy transit commute, and who can supplement academic support at home given the broader test score picture.
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
- Parent satisfaction and trust both at 97% — well above the district average — pointing to unusually healthy family-school relationships for a school with these academic results
- The 2025 test score jump (ELA 28.4% to 37.7%, math 21% to 29.2%) is the strongest the school has posted in nearly a decade of data
- Screened PK-8 continuum lets families stay in one building from pre-K through 8th grade, an increasingly rare configuration in East Harlem
- Suspension count dropped from 10 to 4 year-over-year, the lowest in three years of reporting
- Two-minute walk to the 6 train at 116th Street makes this one of the most transit-accessible commutes in the area
Things to consider
- Test scores remain meaningfully below district averages in both ELA and math, even with recent improvement
- Chronic absenteeism at 50% is high — half of students miss enough days to be formally flagged, which can erode classroom momentum
- Program richness score of 34.7 out of 100 is modest, meaning fewer enrichment offerings than higher-scoring peer schools in the district
- 28% of students have IEPs, well above typical rates, which reflects an inclusive environment but also stretches classroom resources
- Economic need index of 93.8% means almost the entire student body comes from low-income households, and school funding reflects that reality
Based on 2024-25 data
School SummaryDistrict 4
Within District 4, James Weldon Johnson's overall score of 1.34 out of 4 sits below the district average of 1.90, and its peer schools — Tag Young Scholars, Success Academy Harlem 3, and P.S. 171 Patrick Henry — all post significantly higher ratings. It's a school doing solid community-building work that has yet to translate those strong family relationships into top-half academic results.
Academics
ELA proficiency of 37.7% trails the District 4 average of 49.8% by roughly 12 points, and math at 29.2% sits about 16 points below the district's 45.2%. After nearly a decade of flat or declining results — ELA hovered around 28-32% and math dipped as low as 16.4% — the 2025 numbers show a meaningful jump, with ELA up about 9 points and math up 8 points year-over-year. Grade 3 math at 51.6% actually outperforms the district average, suggesting the strongest academic work shows up at the earliest tested grade and erodes as students move up.
Culture
Attendance at 86.8% is just a touch below the district average of 87.7%, and chronic absenteeism at 50% means roughly half of students are missing enough school to be flagged — a real concern. The climate survey tells a more encouraging story on the relationship side: parent satisfaction, parent-teacher trust, and parent-principal trust all hit 97%, well above district norms, and 100% of respondents say the school fosters strong relationships. Discipline is trending in the right direction, with suspensions dropping from 10 in 2022-23 to 4 in 2023-24.
Community
The student body is 72% Hispanic and 23% Black, drawn from a neighborhood where median household income is $36,709 and over a third of residents live below the poverty line. The economic need index of 93.8% means almost every student qualifies as low-income, and 28% of students have IEPs — well above citywide norms. Average class size of about 20 students matches the district average, and the diversity index of 44% reflects that the community is shaped largely by two demographic groups rather than broadly varied.
Neighborhood
East Harlem (North) is a working-class, predominantly renter neighborhood — homeownership sits at just 8% and median household income is $36,709. About a third of residents live in poverty, and only 10.8% of households include children, meaning families with school-age kids are a relative minority in this part of Manhattan. Roughly three in ten residents hold a bachelor's degree or higher.
The 116 St 6 train is a two-minute walk, the 110 St 6 train about five minutes, and the 125 St station serving the 4, 5, and 6 lines is roughly eleven minutes on foot.
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) · 169 families responded (33% 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
Pre-K
James Weldon Johnson also has Pre-K classes. They're a separate application from kindergarten, made on MySchools.
Pre-K application
Applications typically open in the winter and close in the spring, with offers in late spring; the city announces exact dates each year.
Kindergarten
James Weldon Johnson has an attendance zone. At elementary level, in-zone students get a guaranteed seat. Every family still applies on MySchools: the application confirms the zoned seat, and ranking other schools doesn't cost you it.
Kindergarten application
- Opens
- Wed, Dec 9
- Closes
- Fri, Jan 22
- Offers
- Tue, Mar 30
The DOE’s published dates.
- 1Check that your address is inside the zone — zones change, so confirm it before you sign a lease.
- 2Apply during the kindergarten application, even with a zoned seat.
- 3Rank this school along with any others you'd take, in true preference order.
Middle school (6th grade)
Middle school is one citywide application, made in 5th grade. James Weldon Johnson admits through one program, and each one has its own admissions method:
- James Weldon Johnson Leadership AcademyScreened71 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.
- 3Rank programs in true preference order — the match places your child in the highest-ranked one that offers a seat.
Open houses and tours
We haven’t seen open-house dates for this school yet.
From the MySchools admissions calendar, checked weekly.
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Frequently Asked Questions
- Is James Weldon Johnson a good school?
- On Motley, James Weldon Johnson earns an overall rating of 34/100 — 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 4 average.
- What grades does James Weldon Johnson serve?
- James Weldon Johnson serves grades Pre-K to 8.
- How do students get into James Weldon Johnson?
- James Weldon Johnson 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 James Weldon Johnson public, charter, or private?
- James Weldon Johnson is a public school in NYC Community School District 4.
- What neighborhood is James Weldon Johnson in?
- James Weldon Johnson is in East Harlem (North), Manhattan.