Orchard Collegiate Academy

The academic numbers here are stark. Just 8.3% of students reach proficiency in ELA — roughly one-sixth of the District 1 average of about 52%. Math proficiency is reported at 0%, compared with a district average near 47%. The school's overall quality score of 0.17 out of 4 sits well below the district's roughly 2.0. Only a single year of state results is on file, so there is no clean trend line to point to, but the gap with district peers is large enough that families should ask pointed questions about curriculum, daily instruction, and the school's concrete plan to lift these numbers.

Trust is the standout here. Parent-principal trust is 96%, teacher-principal trust is 95%, and teacher collegial trust is 96% — all well above what most NYC schools report. Teacher-reported instruction quality is 89%, slightly above the district's 87%, and parent satisfaction is 89%, also a touch above the district average. The discipline picture is striking: zero suspensions were recorded, compared with a district average near 0.4%. The catch is chronic absenteeism, which sits at 44% — meaning nearly half of students miss enough school days to qualify — and that almost certainly pulls down the academic results. The day-to-day feel, based on surveys, is one of a tight-knit community where adults know kids; the unresolved problem is getting students through the door consistently.

Orchard's student body is 56% Hispanic, 23% Black, and 15% Asian, with a diversity index of 63% and a mix that reflects the surrounding neighborhood closely. Roughly 84% of students qualify for economic need, and 27% have IEPs. Those numbers track the neighborhood around it, where median household income is about $35,000 and a third of residents live below the poverty line. The fact that families report such high trust — 96% parent-principal trust — even as students face real economic headwinds says something genuine about the relationships being built inside the building.

Orchard Collegiate Academy sits in Chinatown-Two Bridges, a neighborhood where median household income is about $35,443, the poverty rate is 33.3%, and homeownership is rare at just over 10%. Only about 8% of households include children, and 30% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher. The school's small enrollment, high economic-need index, and ELL presence mirror this surrounding community directly — families here are largely working-class and immigrant-rooted, and the school is sized to serve them in a personal way.

Families have two main transit options. The East Broadway station on the F line is about a 5-minute walk, and the Delancey St-Essex St complex serving the F, M, J, and Z lines is about an 8-minute walk.