New Directions Secondary School

New Directions' proficiency rates are dramatically below district averages: 5.4% in ELA versus a District 9 average near 45%, and 1.8% in math versus the same district benchmark. Zero percent of test-takers reached proficiency in science. The trajectory, however, edges upward — ELA proficiency has roughly tripled from 1.8% in 2016 to 5.4% in 2019, and math has crept from 0% to 1.8% — so there is slow movement, but from an extremely low starting point. The school's overall quality score of 0.14 out of 4 places it well below the district average of about 1.79.

Day-to-day culture at this school is its strongest story: not a single suspension was recorded, and parent satisfaction sits at 99%, with 100% of surveyed families reporting trust in both teachers and the principal. Teacher collegial trust is 95% and 88% of teachers trust their principal, though only 79% rate instruction quality as strong — a notable gap below the district average of 90%. The catch is attendance: only 63.2% of students attend regularly, compared to 90.1% citywide, and 16.2% are chronically absent, suggesting many students come when they can but a substantial minority struggle with consistent attendance.

The student body is 95% Black and Hispanic, with roughly 61% Hispanic and 34% Black, plus a small slice of Asian, White, and Native American students. Twenty percent of students have IEPs, and the school offers ELL support — meaning a meaningful share of the building is made up of newcomers and students with specialized learning needs. The surrounding neighborhood is largely Latino and Black working-class: median household income is about $45,000, the poverty rate is 32.3%, and just 4.4% of homes are owner-occupied. This is a school whose families look very much like its neighbors.

Mount Eden-Claremont (West) is a dense, renter-dominated stretch of the Bronx where about a third of households live below the poverty line, median household income is in the mid-$40,000s, and only about one in five households includes children. Fewer than one in six adults holds a bachelor's degree. Despite the economic pressures, the neighborhood is well-served by transit, with three subway stations within an eight-minute walk.

The 170 St B/D stop is about a three-minute walk, and the 170 St 4 train is about seven minutes on foot, with Mt Eden Av on the 4 line roughly eight minutes away.