Manhattan Charter School II

On the state's most recent assessments, just 40.8% of students met ELA proficiency standards and only 14.3% reached proficiency in math — both well below District 1 averages of roughly 52% and 47%, respectively. The math trajectory is especially worrying: after hovering in the 30-50% range from 2016-2019, math proficiency dropped to 19.7% in 2022 and has continued sliding, landing at 14.3% in 2025. ELA has been more volatile, swinging from 42% in 2016 to a low of 15.4% in 2024 before partially rebounding to 40.8% in 2025. The school's overall score of 1.1 out of 4 is roughly half the district average of about 1.98, putting it well behind peers like New Explorations (99) and Shuang Wen (87).

The day-to-day climate shows real strain. Attendance sits at 84.8%, nearly four points below the district average, and 38.3% of students are chronically absent — meaning they miss 10% or more of the school year. That figure splits sharply by gender, with 51.2% of female students chronically absent compared to 25% of male students, a gap that warrants a direct conversation with the school. Parent satisfaction is 60%, well below the district's 88.5%, and parent-principal trust is just 56%, suggesting families don't always feel heard. On the more reassuring side, 73% of parents rate teacher instruction quality positively, and 71% report trust in teachers — so the classroom-level relationships seem to be holding up better than the school's overall posture.

The student body is 54% Hispanic, 40% Black, 4% Asian, and 1% each White, multiracial, and Native American — a diversity index of 53%. About 36% of students have IEPs, well above the citywide norm, and the economic need index of 87.8 confirms that nearly nine in ten students come from low-income households. These demographics closely mirror the surrounding neighborhood, where the poverty rate is 33.3% and the median household income is just $35,443 — meaning the school is essentially a reflection of the community it serves.

The school sits in Chinatown-Two Bridges, a Lower East Side neighborhood where the median household income of $35,443 and 33.3% poverty rate make it one of the more economically challenged areas in Manhattan. Only 7.8% of households have children, reflecting a population that's largely adult and immigrant, and homeownership is rare at just 10.4% — though the median home value of $633,022 speaks to the broader Manhattan market pressure. About 30.3% of neighborhood adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher.

Families can reach the school via the F train at East Broadway (about a 5-minute walk) or the F, M, J, and Z trains at Delancey St-Essex St (about an 8-minute walk).