Mott Haven Charter School

Mott Haven Charter's 2025 scores — 54.4% ELA proficiency and 57.1% math — sit clearly above the district averages of 51.3% and 49.0%, and the trajectory matters as much as the snapshot. Math, in particular, has climbed from a low of 25.7% in 2022 to 57.1% in 2025, and ELA has rebounded from the high 30s to the mid-50s over the same window. That said, the historical record shows real volatility — math peaked near 70% in 2016 before cratering — so parents should read this year's results as a strong current signal, not yet a settled pattern. The grade-level breakdown also shows unevenness: Grade 5 ELA and Grade 7 math are standouts, while Grade 8 math (24.4%) and Grade 3 ELA (39.1%) trail.

The climate picture here is genuinely two-sided. On the relationship side, it's exceptional: 96% parent satisfaction, 98% parent-teacher trust, 100% strong relationships, and teacher-reported instruction at 96% — all well above district norms. Teacher trust in the principal (88%) and reported safety (81%) are also above district averages, suggesting a staff that feels supported. The flip side is attendance: at 89.5% it's below the district's 91.1%, and 55% of students are chronically absent — a number that reflects community-level pressures as much as anything happening inside the building. The day-to-day feel, based on surveys, is one of a tight, trusting community where families feel heard, even as getting every student in the door every day remains a real lift.

The student body is 71% Hispanic and 25% Black, with a diversity index of 43% — a population that closely mirrors Mott Haven-Port Morris itself, where four in ten households live below the poverty line and median income hovers around $29,000. With 23% of students classified as IEP, the school runs a meaningfully inclusive special education program, well above what you'd typically see at a charter. The relatively low diversity index reflects the neighborhood's demographic concentration rather than any narrowing of who the school serves — this is a school that draws from its community rather than pulling from outside it.

Mott Haven-Port Morris is a densely populated, low-income corner of the South Bronx where homeownership is rare (around 6%) and renter households dominate. Only about 12% of neighborhood adults hold a bachelor's degree, and just over one in ten households include children — meaning the families who do send kids here are a meaningful minority of the area's overall population. The neighborhood has been the focus of substantial new development and investment in recent years, even as long-standing economic pressures persist for residents.

Getting here by subway is straightforward — Brook Av (6) is about a 3-minute walk, with 3 Av-138 St (6) and Cypress Av (6) each around eight minutes away on the same line.