Success Academy Charter School - Upper West

This is one of the strongest academic records in District 3. ELA proficiency is 95.3% against a district average of 59.31%, and math is 95.5% against 53.97%. The overall quality score of 3.82/4 also dwarfs the district average of 2.27/4. Looking at the eight-year trend, math has stayed consistently excellent — between 91.7% and 97.5% every year — while ELA has climbed meaningfully, from 87% in 2017 to 95.3% in 2025, with a notable jump this past year. Scores by grade are strong throughout, with 98.8% ELA at one grade level the standout. The only district peers in this conversation are the Anderson School and Special Music.

Daily attendance is strong at 94.1%, well above the district average of 90.4%. That said, the chronic absenteeism figure of 81.9% is unusual and worth raising on a tour — the gap between strong daily attendance and a high chronic-absenteeism rate suggests a smaller subset of students missing significant school, but it deserves a direct conversation with the school. Family survey data is effectively absent this year (4 total responses, a 0% recorded response rate), so there's no official read on parent trust, satisfaction, or instructional climate to lean on. Discipline and safety survey metrics were not included in the data provided.

The student body is considerably more diverse than the neighborhood it sits in. Hispanic students make up 39% of enrollment, Black students 19%, White 19%, Asian 14%, and the diversity index is 87%. The surrounding Upper West Side has a median household income of $151,940 and only 8.3% poverty, so the school is clearly pulling a meaningful share of students from outside the immediate area via the charter lottery. About 14% of students have IEPs and the economic need index is 54.8, suggesting a student body that doesn't perfectly mirror the affluent blocks around it.

The school sits in the heart of the Upper West Side, one of Manhattan's most family-friendly and well-educated neighborhoods. The census shows a median household income of $151,940, a bachelor's-degree-or-higher rate of 80.1%, and 17.2% of households include children. Poverty is low at 8.3%, and homeownership sits at 37.8% — a mix of classic pre-war co-ops and brownstones that defines this stretch of the West Side.

Subway access is strong. The 86 St (1) station is about a 4-minute walk, the 86 St (C, B) is about 6 minutes, and the 81 St–Museum of Natural History (C, B) is about 7 minutes away.