Mott Hall V

Proficiency sits below district averages: 37% ELA versus the district's 44.6%, and 41% math versus 43.3%. The overall quality score of 1.56/4 also trails the district's 1.76/4. But the trajectory is genuinely encouraging — ELA proficiency has roughly doubled since 2016 (20.3% to 37%) and math has more than tripled (12.5% to 41%), with a particularly strong 2023 reading (42.3% ELA, 43% math) that suggests the school can produce solid results in a given year. Scores by grade show 8th graders doing best (45.2% ELA, 42.9% math), while 7th-grade ELA dips to 30.1% — a familiar middle-school pattern where the transition grade drags on performance.

The day-to-day feel is mixed in interesting ways. Parents clearly love the school — satisfaction is 97% (well above the district's 91.8%), and family trust in both teachers and the principal sits at 95%. Teachers rate instruction quality at 85% and collegial trust at 75%, but teacher-principal trust drops to 72%, a notable gap that suggests staff feel less bought-in than families. Discipline is essentially a non-issue: just 2 suspensions in the most recent year against a district average suspension rate of 0.4%. The big tension is attendance: 92.8% attendance looks healthy on paper (above the district's 90.1%), but 73.2% chronic absenteeism tells a completely different story — nearly three out of four students miss 10% or more of school days, and the rate climbs higher for Hispanic students (75.4%) than for Black students (62.5%).

The student body is overwhelmingly Latino (80%) with a sizable Black population (14%) and a smaller Asian contingent (4%), a mix that closely mirrors the surrounding Soundview community. About 27% of students have IEPs, and the school runs ELL support for newcomers, reflecting a body where many families are navigating language and special education needs alongside the regular curriculum. The diversity index of 37% is low by city standards — this is more of a culturally cohesive community than a melting-pot environment.

Soundview-Bruckner-Bronx River is a working-class corner of the East Bronx where the median household income sits around $41,359 and roughly a third of residents live below the poverty line. Only about 16% of households here have children, and just 15.3% of adults hold a bachelor's degree, signaling a community where many families are first-generation or working multiple jobs. Homeownership is low (13.4%), and the median home value is $572,262 — fairly modest by city standards despite being higher than the local incomes might suggest. Families here tend to be tightly knit and culturally connected.

Two stops on the 6 line within a six-minute walk — Elder Av and Morrison Av-Soundview — handle most of the commute, with West Farms Sq-E Tremont Av on the 2 and 5 lines about 11 minutes on foot for families coming from further uptown or connecting from the west.