At a Glance
A tiny Concourse middle school pulling off one of the steepest math turnarounds in the city.
Best suited for
Families who want a small, close-knit middle school in the Concourse and are drawn to a school where the academic trajectory is unmistakable — and who are comfortable navigating a screened admissions process.
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
- Math proficiency has risen from 4.5% to 50% in six years — among the steepest turnarounds visible in city data.
- Parent trust in the principal (98%) and in teachers (97%) is near the top of the citywide range.
- Teacher-reported instruction quality is a perfect 100%.
- At 144 students, the school is small enough that adults and students know each other across all three grades.
- An unusually rich program menu (90/100) — including Restorative Circles, Peer Mediation, Saturday Academy, and Specialized High School test prep — for a school this size.
Things to consider
- Chronic absenteeism sits at 87.5% — worth asking how the school is getting kids to show up consistently.
- ELA proficiency (28.2%) still trails the district average, even after the gains.
- Science proficiency at 16.2% is a clear weak spot.
- Teacher trust in school leadership and in colleagues lags well behind parent satisfaction — staff cohesion is a question to probe.
- Admissions are screened, and the small enrollment means fewer classmates and a narrower social pool than a typical middle school.
Based on 2024-25 data
School SummaryDistrict 9
District 9 is home to several top-scoring charters — Icahn Charter School 1 and Success Academy Bronx 2 sit at 99/100 and 97/100 — which set a high bar locally. South Bronx International's overall score of 1.56/4 is below the district average of 1.79/4, but its trajectory, especially in math, points sharply upward relative to most peers.
Academics
Math is the headline: proficiency jumped from 4.5% in 2019 to 50% in 2025, now above the district average of roughly 44.7%. ELA has climbed too, from 0% to 28.2%, though it still trails the district average of about 44.8%. Science proficiency at 16.2% remains a weak spot worth asking about. By grade, seventh-graders lead in both subjects, with eighth-graders strongest in math at 58.2% — a meaningful signal that students arrive better prepared each year.
Culture
Parents are enthusiastic: 95% satisfaction, 97% trust in teachers, 98% trust in the principal. Teachers rate their own instruction quality at a perfect 100%, though their trust in school leadership (68%) and in each other (69%) is markedly lower — a reminder that the front office and the staff room aren't fully aligned. Average daily attendance is strong at 95.1% (well above the district's 90.1%), but chronic absenteeism affects 87.5% of students, meaning most kids are missing too many days even as the typical day looks healthy. Discipline is minimal — one suspension last year, down from three — and the trajectory is improving.
Community
The school's 144 students are overwhelmingly Hispanic (84%) and Black (15%), closely mirroring the surrounding Concourse neighborhood, where most households rent and a third live below the poverty line. With an economic need index of 92.3%, this is one of the higher-need schools in the city, and 17% of students have IEPs; ELL support is on offer. The diversity index of 26% reflects a fairly concentrated student body rather than a wide mix of backgrounds.
Neighborhood
Concourse-Concourse Village is a working-class stretch of the Bronx with a median household income around $40,255 and a poverty rate of 34%. Homeownership is low at 11.1% — most families rent — and just 13.7% of households include children, lower than the citywide norm. The bachelor's-degree rate of 15.8% reflects the neighborhood's working-class roots.
The 167 St B/D station is about a 10-minute walk; the 167 St 4 train is roughly 14 minutes and the 161 St-Yankee Stadium B/D about 13 minutes away.
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) · 90 families responded (64% rate)
Programs & Activities
Racial & Ethnic Diversity
NYC DOE InfoHub · 2022-23
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. South Bronx International Middle School admits through one program, and each one has its own admissions method:
- MS 593Screened49 seats
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.
- 2Screened programs rank 4th-grade course grades, so last year's report card is the one that counts.
- 3Rank programs in true preference order — the match places your child in the highest-ranked one that offers a seat.
Open houses and tours
We haven’t seen open-house dates for this school yet.
From the MySchools admissions calendar, checked weekly.
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Frequently Asked Questions
- Is South Bronx International Middle School a good school?
- On Motley, South Bronx International Middle School earns an overall rating of 39/100 — 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 9 average.
- What grades does South Bronx International Middle School serve?
- South Bronx International Middle School serves grades 6 to 8.
- How do students get into South Bronx International Middle School?
- South Bronx International Middle 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 South Bronx International Middle School public, charter, or private?
- South Bronx International Middle School is a public school in NYC Community School District 9.
- What neighborhood is South Bronx International Middle School in?
- South Bronx International Middle School is in Concourse-Concourse Village, Bronx.