The Equity Project Charter School

TEP's academics are the headline. ELA proficiency has more than doubled since 2016, climbing from 24.8% to 51.2% — now above the district average of 47%. Math tells an even stronger story: from 43.3% to 64.1%, well ahead of the district's 52.1% average. The overall quality score of 2.31 out of 4 sits comfortably above the district average of 1.98. Grade-level data reveals where the momentum lives: 7th graders hit 86% proficiency in math and 71.6% in ELA, while 4th graders are still catching up (29.1% ELA, 49.2% math). Science proficiency at 48.6% is solid for the grade band tested. This is a school where results have improved year over year, not one coasting on reputation.

The day-to-day feel here depends on whom you ask. Parents are effusive — 96% satisfaction and 97% trust in both the principal and teachers. Teachers are notably more measured. Teacher trust in the principal sits at just 70%, a meaningful gap from parent trust and below what you typically want to see. Teacher-reported instruction quality (85%) is below the district average of 90%, though teacher collegial trust is healthy at 80%. Teacher-reported safety at 88% is below the district's 93.2% — not a red flag, but a number to ask about on a tour. The single most striking climate figure is chronic absenteeism at 73.6%, which is very high and roughly even across genders and among Hispanic students (lower among Black students at 57.9%). Attendance rate of 92.6% is slightly above the district average of 91%, which makes the chronic absenteeism number worth probing — it suggests irregular attendance concentrated in a subset of students rather than across the board.

TEP's student body is overwhelmingly Hispanic (94%), with small percentages of Black (3%), Asian (1%), White (1%), and multiracial (1%) students. The economic need index of 83.5% means the vast majority of students come from low-income households. About 22% of students have IEPs, a meaningful share. The diversity index of 16% is low — this is not a school where your child will encounter a wide cross-section of NYC's demographics, though that reflects the school community more than the neighborhood. Parent engagement is one of the school's defining features: the family survey response rate of 99% is remarkable, suggesting families feel invested enough to show up and speak up.

Inwood, at Manhattan's northern tip, is a working- and middle-class neighborhood where households with children make up about 15.2% of the population and the median household income sits at roughly $63,123. About 40% of adult residents hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and homeownership is rare at just 9.2%, meaning most families live in rented apartments — often in one of the neighborhood's many prewar buildings. The poverty rate of 15.4% sits below the citywide average for similar neighborhoods. Median home values around $508,338 reflect the market pressure that's slowly reshaping this part of Manhattan. The school sits embedded in a community that mixes longtime Dominican and Latino families with newer arrivals priced out of neighborhoods further south.

The school is genuinely walkable for subway commuters — Dyckman St (A train) and 207 St (1 train) are each about a five-minute walk, and Inwood-207 St (A train) is roughly six minutes away. Most families in the neighborhood don't need a car to get here.