Sisulu-Walker Charter School of Harlem

ELA proficiency of 70.3% is meaningfully above the District 5 average of about 54%, and Math at 60.9% also clears the district mark of roughly 51%. The overall rating of 2.62 out of 4 sits well above the district average of about 2.09. The longer arc is more striking: ELA proficiency more than doubled from 32.6% in 2016, with the strongest year on record coming in 2025. Math tells a bumpier story — the school hit 74.7% in 2019, the best in this dataset, and has trended downward since, landing at 60.9% this year. Within the building, 5th graders post an impressive 80% ELA proficiency while 4th graders come in at 57.9%, suggesting the strongest instruction may be concentrated at the top end.

The day-to-day feel, at least according to the people in the building, is strikingly positive: teachers rate instruction quality, principal trust, and safety at 100%, and parents give satisfaction and teacher-trust scores in the mid-90s. That said, only 20 teachers responded to the survey — a small sample from a school of 167 students, so the 100% should be read with that asterisk. Attendance is the harder number. The school's 84.3% attendance rate trails the district average of about 88.6%, and 35.4% of students are chronically absent — well above what's considered healthy. That's the gap between how families feel and how often students actually show up, and it's the thing the school most needs parents to help close.

The student body is 75% Black and 18% Hispanic, with a small mix of multiracial, Asian, and Native American students. That composition mirrors the surrounding neighborhood closely — West Harlem is a predominantly Black and Hispanic community. The economic need index of 88 indicates very high need, and 19% of students have IEPs, which is roughly in line with the citywide average for charter schools. This is a school serving a working-class, predominantly Black community, and the parent satisfaction suggests families feel the school is meeting their kids where they are.

Manhattanville-West Harlem is a working-class to lower-middle-income neighborhood where median household income sits at about $44,556 and roughly a quarter of residents live below the poverty line. Only 8.6% of households here have children, which is lower than many other parts of the city — partly reflecting the share of college students and young professionals in the area. Just under a third of adults hold a bachelor's degree, and homeownership is rare at around 5%, with most residents renting. The school sits within walking distance of several subway lines, making it accessible from across upper Manhattan and the Bronx.

Families can reach the school via the 1 train at 137 St-City College (about 8 minutes on foot), the A, C, and B lines at 125 St (about 8 minutes), or the C and B lines at 135 St (about 5 minutes).