Longwood Preparatory Academy

The academic programming suggests serious college-prep intent: AP courses, SAT/ACT prep, CUNY College Now, internships, and dedicated Regents preparation sit alongside humanities and STEM tracks. Average class size of 22.6 essentially matches the district average of 22.5, so there is no structural class-size advantage to lean on. With 30% of students having IEPs and nearly all qualifying as low-income, the school is working hard to push a high-needs population toward college readiness — and the breadth of supports (peer mentorship, after-school tutoring, Saturday school, work-based learning) suggests the investment is real.

Parent engagement metrics here are unusually strong — 96% satisfaction and 98% parent-principal trust both run several points above district averages, and the 55% family survey response rate is solid for a small school. Teachers report strong trust in leadership (98%) and decent collegial trust (87%), suggesting a workplace where adults actually collaborate rather than work in silos. The single most striking number is zero suspensions — at a school where 30% of students have IEPs and nearly all are low-income, the complete absence of formal discipline is genuinely unusual and speaks to how the school handles conflict day-to-day.

Longwood Prep's student body is 66% Hispanic and 33% Black — a predominantly Latino and African-American school reflecting the demographic concentration of the surrounding South Bronx. The school's economic need index of 93% means almost every student comes from a low-income household, and the 30% IEP rate is meaningfully higher than the citywide average. The 40% diversity index sits below the typical 60–70% range seen across NYC public schools, because two groups rather than five or six make up nearly the entire enrollment.

The Longwood neighborhood around the school is a working-class pocket of the South Bronx where most residents rent (homeownership sits at just 13%) and about a third of households live below the poverty line. Only 14% of households include children — lower than the citywide norm — and only 15% of adults hold a bachelor's degree, which means many families here are navigating the college process for the first time. The median home value of roughly $537,000 against a median household income under $37,000 hints at rising housing costs putting pressure on long-time residents. Subway access is strong, with three stations within a short walk.

Three subway options sit within a seven-minute walk: the 6 train at Longwood Avenue (about 3 minutes), the 2 and 5 at Prospect Avenue (about 5 minutes), and the 2 and 5 at Intervale Avenue (about 7 minutes).