Richard R. Green High School of Teaching

The academic program leans on AP courses, ELL support, and Spanish language study, with a program richness score of 90 out of 100 — meaning a wide menu of electives and clubs relative to a school this size. The Teaching Academy is genuinely selective, taking about half of its applicants, while the Liberal Arts Academy admits everyone who applies, so the two tracks offer very different entry points. Class size sits at roughly 26, essentially identical to the district average, so students aren't getting a small-class-size premium despite the school's compact enrollment.

Zero suspensions is the standout number here — nothing reported in the discipline data — and teacher trust in both colleagues (95%) and the principal (91%) is exceptionally high. Parents report 94% trust in teachers and 96% in the principal, and 97% of teachers rate the instruction quality as strong. The trade-off is survey participation: only 22 teachers and 31% of families responded, which is worth keeping in mind as a small-sample caveat. Day-to-day, this looks like a calm, collaborative place where adults support each other and families feel heard.

The student body is majority Hispanic (51%) with a sizable Black population (26%) and growing Asian presence (12%), giving the school a 69% diversity index. The economic need index of 73% — meaning roughly three-quarters of students qualify for economic disadvantage — is striking given the median household income of the surrounding neighborhood exceeds $190,000. In other words, this is a school where most students travel in from elsewhere in the city to a downtown address. The neighborhood itself has only about 14% of households with children, so the school is largely serving commuters, not locals.

The Financial District-Battery Park City neighborhood is one of the wealthiest in New York, with a median household income above $192,000 and a poverty rate around 6%. Bachelor-degree attainment is over 82%, homeownership is below 25%, and the median home value is well over $1.2 million — all hallmarks of a young-professional, high-rise neighborhood. With just under 14% of households including children, this is fundamentally a downtown commuter zone rather than a family neighborhood, which helps explain why the school draws its student body from across the city.

Families reach the school easily by subway — Bowling Green (4 5 trains) is about a two-minute walk, and Rector St is about three minutes away on both the R W lines and the 1 train. Multiple lines converge within a short radius, making this one of the more transit-accessible high schools in the city.