School for Global Leaders

The academic story here is one of the most striking turnarounds in District 1. In 2016, only about 1 in 5 students were proficient in ELA and math. By 2025, ELA proficiency sits at 47.4% (just below the district average of ~52%) and math proficiency is at 61.3% — well above the district average of ~47%. The 2024 dip in ELA (28.5%) was real, but 2025 rebounded sharply, suggesting volatility alongside genuine upward momentum. Science proficiency at 59% is solid. By grade, 6th and 7th graders are performing similarly (around 50% ELA, 60%+ math), while 8th grade ELA dips to 41% — worth watching as the cohort moves up.

This is a school where the adults clearly like being there. Teacher-reported instruction quality is a perfect 100%, and trust between teachers and leadership sits at 99%. Parent satisfaction is 98%, with parent-teacher and parent-principal trust both at 97%. Discipline is a non-issue — only 4 suspensions last year, and that's actually down from 7 two years prior. The one real flag is chronic absenteeism at 51.3%, meaning more than half of students miss enough school to be flagged. That's high, but it's worth noting the overall attendance rate (89.1%) is actually slightly above the district average. The gap suggests a group of students with very serious attendance challenges pulling the chronic-absence number up.

The student body is majority Hispanic (58%) with a sizable Black population (25%) and smaller Asian (11%), White (5%), and multiracial representation. The diversity index of 63% reflects a genuinely mixed community. With an economic need index of 87.5% — among the highest you'll see — most students come from low-income households, and 36% have IEPs, well above typical. This mirrors the Lower East Side's character: a historically immigrant, multigenerational neighborhood where English learners and working-class families are the norm, not the exception.

The Lower East Side around this school is a dense, working-class, heavily immigrant neighborhood. Median household income sits around $58,000, well below the citywide norm, and about 23% of residents live below the poverty line. Only 6.5% of households have children — a reminder that this is mostly a neighborhood of young adults, seniors, and small households rather than suburban-style family blocks. Homeownership is low (23%) and the few owners who are here hold valuable property (median home value over $830,000), a sign of how gentrification has reshaped parts of this area. Despite all that, about 44% of adults have a bachelor's degree or higher, suggesting a real mix of long-time residents and newer, more affluent arrivals.

Families have it easy on transit. The school is about a 3-minute walk from the Delancey St-Essex St station (served by the F, M, J, and Z lines) and about a 7-minute walk from the 2 Av station on the F. Multiple lines converge here, which makes the commute from almost anywhere in Manhattan or Brooklyn very manageable.