Jill Chaifetz Transfer High School

No school-level ELA or Math proficiency rates were reported for this profile, so academic outcomes can't be benchmarked against the district's roughly 51% ELA and 49% Math averages. As a transfer high school serving students who arrived from other settings, Jill Chaifetz operates under a different framework than typical comprehensive high schools, and that context matters when reading any future test data. What can be said is that the school maintains an average class size of about 20.5 students — essentially identical to the district average of roughly 20.6 — meaning students get adult attention that is rare at larger Bronx high schools.

The day-to-day climate looks unusually calm. Zero suspensions at a transfer high school — where many students arrive with prior disciplinary histories — is remarkable and well below the district average suspension rate of roughly 0.84%. Parent satisfaction is 96%, slightly above the district's 93.5%, and every single parent respondent said they trust both their child's teacher and the principal. That said, teacher-side numbers tell a slightly more textured story: teacher trust in the principal sits at 83% and instruction quality at 85%, both below the district averages of 88% and 80.5% respectively (instruction quality is actually above district average). Teacher collegial trust is 100%. The caveat — only 10 teachers and 20 families responded to the surveys, so these figures describe a small slice of the school community, not a broad consensus.

The student body is 63% Hispanic and 32% Black, with small shares of Asian, White, multiracial, and Native American students — a profile that closely mirrors the surrounding Melrose neighborhood. The economic need index of 91.6 is very high, indicating that almost all students come from households facing significant financial pressure, and 34% of students have IEPs, roughly double what you'd typically see in a Bronx high school. Diversity index sits at 50%, reflecting how concentrated the school is in its racial and ethnic makeup.

Melrose is a dense, working-class South Bronx neighborhood where the median household income is around $30,236 and 38.1% of residents live below the poverty line. Just 15.7% of households have children, and only 13.9% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher — both well below city averages. Homeownership is rare at 10%, though the median home value among those who do own is roughly $365,900. For families, the neighborhood is decidedly transit-oriented and walkable to several subway lines.

Families have three solid subway options within a short walk: Jackson Av (2 5) about 4 minutes away, Prospect Av (2 5) about 5 minutes, and E 149 St (6) about 10 minutes. The 2/5 pair in particular gives express access down the Bronx and into Manhattan.