At a Glance
A fiercely screened 6–12 school in Gramercy with sky-high parent trust, a sprawling electives menu, and math scores that trail its district
Best suited for
Families who want a structured 6–12 screened pathway with an extraordinary range of electives, value a diverse student body, and are willing to weigh parent enthusiasm and course offerings against middling test scores.
Overall Rating
Rating = average of NY State ELA + math proficiency, grades 3–8
Bands are Motley's thresholds on a 0–100 scale, not New York State performance levels.
How this is scored→What stands out
- Screened admissions with a 5.3% offer rate make entry highly competitive for a public school.
- Program richness score of 100/100 — an exceptionally broad electives catalog spanning Mandarin, robotics, journalism, ski club, debate, and rooftop gardening.
- Teacher-rated instruction quality at 95% is well above the district's 89.8%, signaling a staff that feels supported in their craft.
- A genuinely diverse student body (82% diversity index) that draws from well beyond the affluent immediate neighborhood.
- Grade 8 ELA proficiency at 82.9% stands out as a clear bright spot within the school's results.
Things to consider
- Math proficiency at 54.7% trails the district by roughly 18 points, and the 2025 score dropped sharply from 2024.
- Chronic absenteeism at 72.6% is a serious flag, with Asian and White students missing school at near-universal rates.
- Suspensions have tripled over three years (5 to 13), and the 2% rate sits well above the district's 0.3%.
- PTA fundraising of $48 per student is dramatically below the district's $516 average, unusual for an affluent neighborhood and worth asking about.
- ELA proficiency also sits below the district average, even if less starkly than math.
Based on 2024-25 data
School SummaryDistrict 2
In a district whose average overall score is 2.91/4, this school's 2.42/4 places it clearly below the District 2 norm and well behind flagship peer schools like Lower Lab (99/100 program richness). It's a solid but not standout option in a borough loaded with high-performing alternatives.
Academics
Math proficiency at 54.7% trails the district average of 72.5% by nearly 18 points — a meaningful gap that has widened recently, with 2025 marking a sharp dip from 65.1% the year before. ELA proficiency at 66.5% also sits below the district's 73.2%, though Grade 8 ELA hits an impressive 82.9%, suggesting the upper-middle-school years are a real strength. Science proficiency at 74.2% is the brightest spot, and historically ELA hovered in the same range before an anomalous 2022 spike to 79.3%.
Culture
Parents are enthusiastic — 94% satisfaction, 96% trust in the principal, 93% trust in teachers — and teachers rate instruction quality at 95%, well above the district's 89.8%. The flip side is chronic absenteeism at 72.6%, with White (85.2%), Asian (100%), and multiracial (90%) students missing school at extraordinarily high rates. Suspensions have tripled over three years (5 → 10 → 13), and the 2% suspension rate is meaningfully above the district's 0.3%, suggesting discipline is a growing tension point.
Community
The student body is genuinely mixed — 43% White, 19% Hispanic, 18% Asian, 12% Black, with a diversity index of 82% — which is striking given that the surrounding Gramercy neighborhood is overwhelmingly affluent, college-educated, and only 10% of households include children. The school pulls a far more working-class and racially diverse population than its immediate census tract suggests, with an economic need index of 39.6 and 24% of students with IEPs. It's a place where the school community and the neighborhood around it look very different, and that mismatch is part of the school's identity.
Neighborhood
Gramercy is one of Manhattan's wealthier residential pockets, with a median household income of $153,847 and 83.1% of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher — but only 10% of households include children, making it a neighborhood of mostly adult professionals and longtime owners. The median home value near $922,000 reflects that affluence, and just over a third of households own their homes. Families who choose School of the Future are often less likely to be neighbors than commuters from elsewhere in the district.
The 6 train at 23 St–Baruch College is about a 2-minute walk, with the 28 St (6) stop and the 23 St (R, W) station each roughly 6 minutes on foot — subway access is genuinely easy here.
Academic Performance
ELA Proficiency
Students scoring proficient or above on the NY State ELA exam.
NYC DOE InfoHub · 2022-23
Math Proficiency
Students scoring proficient or above on the NY State Math exam.
NYC DOE InfoHub · 2022-23
Science Proficiency
Students scoring proficient or above on the NY State Science exam.
NYC DOE InfoHub · 2022-23
Historical Trends
The dashed line marks 2023, when New York changed its grades 3–8 state tests. Scores before and after it aren’t directly comparable.
2020–2021 data unavailable due to COVID-19
Source: NYC DOE School Quality Reports
Survey Results
NYC School Survey (2025) · 213 families responded (31% rate)
Programs & Activities
Admissions Demand
Racial & Ethnic Diversity
NYC DOE InfoHub · 2022-23
PTA Fundraising
Source: DOE Local Law 171 disclosure
Discipline
NYSED Student & Educator Database (2023-24)
Economic Need & Special Populations
How to get in, step by step
Middle school (6th grade)
Middle school is one citywide application, made in 5th grade. We don't have School of the Future High School's program list, so read how each of its programs admits on MySchools before you rank it.
Middle school application
- Opened
- Wed, Oct 14
- Closes
- Fri, Dec 11
- Offers
- Wed, Apr 7
The DOE’s published dates.
- 1Apply on MySchools during the middle school application, in 5th grade.
- 2Rank programs in true preference order — the match places your child in the highest-ranked one that offers a seat.
High school (9th grade)
High school is one citywide application, made in 8th grade. School of the Future High School admits through one program, and each one has its own admissions method:
- School of the FutureScreened
High school application
- Opened
- Tue, Oct 6
- Closes
- Fri, Dec 4
- Offers
- Wed, Mar 3
The DOE’s published dates.
- 1Apply on MySchools during the high school application, in 8th grade.
- 2Screened programs rank the 7th-grade core-course average, so last year's final grades are the ones that count.
- 3Rank programs in true preference order — the match places your child in the highest-ranked one that offers a seat.
Open houses and tours
Open house
Wed, Nov 4, · 4:30 PM · In person
Open house
Mon, Nov 9, · 4:30 PM · Virtual
Open house
Mon, Nov 9, · 6:00 PM · Virtual
From the MySchools admissions calendar, checked weekly.
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Frequently Asked Questions
- Is School of the Future High School a good school?
- On Motley, School of the Future High School earns an overall rating of 61/100 — the average of the school's New York State ELA and math proficiency, grades 3–8, shown out of 100. Its state test results run below the District 2 average.
- What grades does School of the Future High School serve?
- School of the Future High School serves grades 6 to 12.
- How do students get into School of the Future High School?
- School of the Future High School is a screened school — it admits by application, ranking applicants on their course grades (4th grade for middle school, the 7th-grade core-course average for high school); a few schools add an assessment, writing sample, or interview.
- Is School of the Future High School public, charter, or private?
- School of the Future High School is a public school in NYC Community School District 2.
- What neighborhood is School of the Future High School in?
- School of the Future High School is in Gramercy, Manhattan.