The High School of Fashion Industries

The school offers AP courses, ELL support, and a range of career and technical education pathways in fashion and design, with a program richness score at the maximum 100/100 — a sign of unusually broad offerings for a public school. No state proficiency data was provided for this profile, so academic performance in traditional ELA and math terms can't be directly compared to the district averages of 73% and 73% respectively. What stands out is the strong teacher-reported instruction quality at 93%, notably above the district average of 90%, suggesting classrooms here feel well-run even without hard test-score data to lean on. The CTE and AP mix means students can pursue rigorous academics while building portfolio-ready skills.

The day-to-day culture here looks unusually strong by public school standards. Parent satisfaction is 94% (above the district's 92%), parent-principal trust is 97%, and teacher collegial trust sits at 93% — all signs that adults in the building are aligned and families feel heard. The zero suspensions total is striking and worth noting: this is a large school of 1,700+ students with no reported suspensions, which speaks to either genuinely strong behavior systems or a culture where students are deeply invested. Teacher instruction quality at 93% exceeds the district average, and teacher-principal trust at 88% is solid, if slightly lower than the family-side numbers.

The student body is 57% Hispanic, 31% Black, 5% White, and 4% Asian, with a diversity index of 58% and an economic need index of 76.5 — meaning most students come from households experiencing economic hardship. That's a notable contrast with the surrounding Chelsea-Hudson Yards neighborhood, where the median household income tops $122,000 and only 11.9% of residents live below the poverty line. The school also serves 21% students with IEPs, a meaningful share, and provides ELL support. This is a school where families from across the city send their creative kids, and the community reflects that citywide draw rather than just the immediate blocks.

The school sits in the Chelsea-Hudson Yards area, a neighborhood defined by high household incomes (median $122,639), high educational attainment (74.7% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher), and a relatively low share of households with children (6.4%). Median home values near $1 million and a homeownership rate of just 26.5% tell you this is a renter-heavy, professional-class neighborhood. The poverty rate of 11.9% is well below city averages, which makes the school's high economic need index all the more notable — families commute in from elsewhere to attend. The neighborhood context here is about proximity to the fashion industry itself: galleries, showrooms, and design firms are part of the daily streetscape.

Getting here is easy by subway. The 23 St station on the C and E lines is about a 2-minute walk away, the 23 St station on the 1 line is around 3 minutes, and the 28 St station on the 1 line is roughly 4 minutes. Multiple lines converge within a few blocks, which is a real plus for students coming from across the city.