At a Glance
A small business-focused high school tucked into one of Manhattan's wealthiest blocks
Best suited for
Families who want a small, open-admission high school with a clear business-careers identity, ELL support, and AP access — and who are comfortable with a student body drawn from across the borough rather than the immediate neighborhood.
Overall Rating
Rating = average of 4-year graduation, English Regents college-ready and Regents completion · DOE 2025 report
Bands are Motley's thresholds on a 0–100 scale, not New York State performance levels.
How this is scored→What stands out
- Business-careers theme woven through the academic program
- Two smaller academies (Ninth Grade Academy and Blazer Early College Prep) that break the school into more intimate learning communities
- Zero suspensions — rare for a NYC high school
- ELL support sitting alongside AP courses — a combination that welcomes newcomers while still pushing advanced students
- A striking neighborhood contrast: located in one of Manhattan's wealthiest census tracts while serving a high-need student population
Things to consider
- Tiny enrollment (129 students) means a smaller peer group and likely fewer electives than larger schools
- Low survey response rates (9% of families, 10 teachers) make the climate data less reliable than at schools with broader participation
- Parent satisfaction is solid but trails the district average by roughly 10 points — worth asking current families what drives the gap
- The business-careers focus shapes course offerings, so fit depends on whether that theme resonates with your child
- 100% offer rates mean there's no admissions filter — selectivity isn't a reason to choose this school
Based on 2025 data
School SummaryDistrict 2
Bergtraum sits in District 2, home to some of the city's most sought-after elementary and middle schools (Lower Lab, Manhattan New School, P.S. 89). The high school set in the district tends to be screened, selective, or specialized. Bergtraum offers an open-admission alternative in a neighborhood where most families are accustomed to a very different kind of school experience.
Academics
Bergtraum's academic identity centers on its business-careers theme, with AP courses, humanities, and ELL support forming the backbone of the program. Two smaller academies — a Ninth Grade Academy and the Blazer Early College Preparatory Academy — break the school into more contained learning communities. Both programs accept every applicant, so there's no academic filter at the door. Specific ELA and math proficiency rates aren't included in this profile, but a program richness score of 69.3 out of 100 suggests a reasonably broad offering for a school this size.
Culture
The climate picture is mixed but leans positive. Parent satisfaction sits at 82% — solid but well below the district average of about 92%. Where Bergtraum really shines is trust: 96% parent-principal trust, 95% parent-teacher trust, 93% teacher collegial trust, and 91% teacher-principal trust. Teachers rate instruction quality at 90%, slightly above the district average of roughly 90%. Zero suspensions is genuinely unusual for a NYC high school. One important caveat: only 9% of families and just 10 teachers responded to the survey, so these numbers reflect a thin slice of the community rather than a broad consensus.
Community
The student body is 47% Black, 33% Hispanic, 13% Asian, with small shares of White, multiracial, and Native American students — a diversity index of 68%. About 80% of students qualify as high economic need, a sharp mismatch with the surrounding Tribeca-Civic Center neighborhood, where the median household income tops $214,000 and the poverty rate is around 5%. The school draws families from across the borough rather than the immediate blocks, and the very low family survey response rate suggests many parents aren't plugged in through formal channels.
Neighborhood
The school sits in Tribeca-Civic Center, where the median household income is roughly $214,860, nearly 80% of adults hold a bachelor's degree, and only about 5% of households live below the poverty line. Around a quarter of neighborhood households have children, and homeownership sits at 41% — high for Manhattan. The contrast between the affluence of the surrounding blocks and the economic profile of the student body is one of the school's defining features.
Transit access is excellent. Chambers St (J, Z) is about a 4-minute walk, Brooklyn Bridge-City Hall (4, 5, 6) is about 5 minutes, and Fulton St (2, 3) is about 7 minutes — multiple lines converging within a short stroll.
Survey Results
NYC School Survey (2025) · 9 families responded (9% rate)
Programs & Activities
Admissions Demand
Well-rounded liberal arts curriculum and opportunities to prepare students for post-secondary options.
Students will focus on a liberal arts program with an emphasis on math and science and will work towards earning college-level courses through Advance Placement and Syracuse University Project Advance coursework.
Racial & Ethnic Diversity
NYC DOE InfoHub · 2022-23
Discipline
NYSED Student & Educator Database
Economic Need & Special Populations
How to get in, step by step
High school (9th grade)
High school is one citywide application, made in 8th grade. Murry Bergtraum High School for Business Careers admits through 2 programs, and each one has its own admissions method:
- The Blazer Early College Preparatory AcademyEd. Opt.
- The Ninth Grade AcademyUnscreened
High school application
- Opened
- Tue, Oct 6
- Closes
- Fri, Dec 4
- Offers
- Wed, Mar 3
The DOE’s published dates.
- 1Apply on MySchools during the high school application, in 8th grade.
- 2Educational Option programs fill in equal shares across three reading levels, half by the school's ranking and half by lottery.
- 3Unscreened programs fill by random lottery among the families who rank them.
- 4Rank programs in true preference order — the match places your child in the highest-ranked one that offers a seat.
Open houses and tours
We haven’t seen open-house dates for this school yet.
From the MySchools admissions calendar, checked weekly.
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Frequently Asked Questions
- Is Murry Bergtraum High School for Business Careers a good school?
- On Motley, Murry Bergtraum High School for Business Careers earns an overall rating of 40/100 — the average of the school's four-year graduation rate, the share of its students scoring college-ready (70+) on the English Regents, and its Regents completion rate, shown out of 100.
- What grades does Murry Bergtraum High School for Business Careers serve?
- Murry Bergtraum High School for Business Careers serves grades 9 to 12.
- How do students get into Murry Bergtraum High School for Business Careers?
- Murry Bergtraum High School for Business Careers uses the Educational Option (Ed-Opt) method, ranking applicants across performance levels so seats go to a mix of abilities.
- Is Murry Bergtraum High School for Business Careers public, charter, or private?
- Murry Bergtraum High School for Business Careers is a public school in NYC Community School District 2.
- What neighborhood is Murry Bergtraum High School for Business Careers in?
- Murry Bergtraum High School for Business Careers is in Tribeca-Civic Center, Manhattan.