P.S. 102 Jacques Cartier

ELA proficiency at 43.8% and math at 36.8% both sit below the District 4 averages of roughly 50% and 45%. The trajectory tells a more nuanced story: ELA climbed from 26.4% in 2016 to 43.8% in 2025, with the steepest gains coming in the most recent year after pandemic-era dips. Math is more uneven — Grade 3 and 4 students post around 43-44% proficiency, but Grade 5 math falls to just 19%, suggesting the upper grade is where the gap widens. Overall, students here are catching up rather than leading, with clear year-over-year momentum in reading.

The day-to-day feel, according to families, is warm and connected: 96% parent satisfaction, 100% report strong relationships between teachers and students, and parent-teacher trust sits at 98%. Discipline is calm — just one suspension in 2023-24 and a 1% suspension rate well within district norms. But the picture from staff is murkier: only 19 teachers responded to the survey, teacher-reported safety is 75% (below the district's 86.9%), and attendance is soft at 82.9% with 43.2% of students chronically absent. Teachers and families seem to see the school quite differently, and getting kids to school every day is a real challenge.

Roughly 87% of students are Hispanic or Black (51% and 36%), with smaller Asian, white, and multiracial groups rounding out the body. The economic need index of 90.5% indicates most students come from low-income households, and 33% have IEPs — a notably high share that points to substantial inclusion work. This profile mirrors the surrounding East Harlem neighborhood, where about a third of residents live in poverty and median household income is in the mid-$30,000s.

The school sits in East Harlem (North), a densely populated neighborhood where about 33% of residents live below the poverty line, median household income is around $36,709, and only 8% of households own their homes. Just under 11% of households have children, and roughly 30% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher. It is a working-class, renter-heavy area with deep family roots.

Most families walk or take the subway. The closest stops are 116 St on the 6 line and 110 St on the 6 line, each about a seven-minute walk; 125 St on the 4, 5, and 6 lines is roughly 13 minutes on foot.