Success Academy Charter School - Harlem 1

This is where the school truly distinguishes itself. Both ELA (90.2%) and math (89.4%) proficiency land roughly 30 points above the district averages of about 59% and 54%, respectively. Math has been a strength for years — it was already at 90.8% back in 2016 and peaked near 97% in 2019, even nudging higher into the mid-90s after the dip during the 2022-2023 pandemic-era testing windows. ELA has been more volatile: it climbed from 76.7% in 2016 to 86.7% in 2018, dipped during the pandemic years, and then made its biggest leap in the data set — jumping from 74% in 2024 to 90.2% in 2025. Grade-by-grade results show that younger students tend to score highest (3rd grade math hit 100% proficiency), with some softening in middle school grades. Overall, the school earned a 3.59 out of 4 on its quality review, putting it near the very top of the district.

The day-to-day picture is harder to read than the academics, because the parent survey data is essentially unusable — only 5 families responded, for a 0% response rate. The 60% parent satisfaction and trust figures that surface from that data should be treated as a placeholder, not a reliable signal. What's more concrete: the school runs on a 92.4% daily attendance rate, slightly above the district average of 90.4%. But the chronic absenteeism rate is 74.3% — meaning nearly three out of four students are missing enough school days to qualify as chronically absent. That's striking for any school, and especially notable at a high-achieving campus. Discipline data wasn't reported, so there's no picture of suspension rates. Bottom line: families enrolling here should ask directly about attendance norms, how the school supports students who miss school, and what the discipline approach looks like.

The student body is 62% Black and 28% Hispanic, with smaller Asian, white, multiracial, and Native American populations — a demographic profile that closely tracks the surrounding Harlem (South) neighborhood. The economic need index is 73.8%, meaning roughly three-quarters of students come from low-income households. About 12% of students have an Individualized Education Program, which is in line with or slightly below the district average. With 1,261 students on one campus, this is one of the larger charter schools in the city — families used to small neighborhood schools may find the scale different from what they're expecting. Class size averages 23.1, identical to the district average.

The school sits in central Harlem (South), a neighborhood where median household income is about $69,000, just over half of adults hold a bachelor's degree, and homeownership is low (around 18%) — meaning most families rent. Over 20% of residents live below the poverty line, and only about 12% of households include children, which is characteristic of dense urban neighborhoods across Manhattan. Median home value is around $1.3 million, reflecting the broader Harlem market.

The 116 Street 2/3 station is essentially at the school's doorstep — about a 2-minute walk. The 110 Street-Malcolm X Plaza and 125 Street stations on the 2/3 lines are both roughly 7-8 minutes away, so families coming from the Bronx, Central Park West, or the South Bronx can get here on a single train.