At a Glance
A PK-8 East Harlem neighborhood school where parent trust runs deep, even as the test scores still need catching up.
Best suited for
Families rooted in East Harlem who want a stable, full PK-8 option with deep parent-school relationships and are ready to invest in attendance and engagement, knowing that test scores still lag district averages while the long-term trajectory points up.
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
- Parent-principal trust at 100% and parent-teacher trust at 98% — among the strongest you'll see in District 4
- Steady, multi-year climb in ELA proficiency from 22.6% in 2016 to 31.1% in 2025
- Suspension rate cut by more than half in one year — from 8 incidents in 2022-23 down to 3 in 2023-24
- Strong middle-school performance: 7th-grade math at 42.9% and 8th-grade ELA at 44.2%, well above the school's lower grades
Things to consider
- Test scores sit roughly 18-20 points below district averages in both ELA and Math
- Chronic absenteeism near 40% is a meaningful flag for families thinking about routine and engagement
- Teacher collegial trust at 51% suggests some internal friction that staff feel day-to-day
- PTA resources are thin (about $4 per student vs. $103 district average), so fundraising falls on already-stretched families
- Program richness score (34.7/100) is well below most District 4 peers, meaning fewer enrichment offerings
Based on 2024-25 data
School SummaryDistrict 4
Lexington sits at the lower end of District 4 on program richness (34.7/100, vs. peer scores that range from 75 to 97). District 4 includes high-performing schools like Tag Young Scholars and Success Academy Harlem 3, and averages roughly 50% ELA proficiency citywide. Lexington is unscreened, serves a far higher-need population than most of its peers, and is being compared against schools with very different intake.
Academics
Both ELA and Math proficiency sit roughly 18-20 percentage points below the District 4 average (31.1% vs. 49.8% ELA; 27.8% vs. 45.2% Math), and the overall score of 1.18/4 is well below the district's 1.9. But the long arc matters: ELA has climbed from 22.6% in 2016 to 31.1% in 2025, and math rose from 22.6% to 27.8%, though with real year-to-year volatility (a dip to 16.7% in 2022 before rebounding). Performance varies sharply by grade — Grade 3 dips into the low teens while Grades 7 and 8 reach the 30s and 40s, suggesting older students start to find their footing.
Culture
Parents are exceptionally satisfied (93%, above the district's 91%) and report near-total trust in the principal (100%) and teachers (98%) — about as strong as you'll find anywhere. Teachers are more measured: 74% rate instruction quality as strong (below the 87% district average), teacher-reported safety sits at 80% (also below the 87% district mark), and collegial trust is just 51%, which can shape how staff experience the building day-to-day. Attendance at 85.1% trails the district's 87.7%, with 39.3% of students chronically absent. On the positive side, suspensions have been cut by more than half — from 8 in 2022-23 down to 3 in 2023-24.
Community
The student body is 75% Hispanic and 20% Black, with an Economic Need Index of 91.8% and roughly a third of students classified as IEP. The neighborhood mirror this profile: median household income around $44,000, about 29% of households in poverty, and a renter-dominated block. PTA fundraising lands at just $4 per student versus the district's $103 — a reflection of what families can contribute, not how much they care.
Neighborhood
East Harlem is a working-class, predominantly Latino neighborhood where most households rent (homeownership under 8%) and roughly 29% live below the poverty line. Despite relatively low family density (under 9% of households have children), the area is anchored by families who value local schools like this one. About 38% of adults hold a bachelor's degree, and the median home value near $828,000 reflects how fast rents have climbed even where incomes haven't kept pace.
The 103 St stop on the 6 train is a two-minute walk; the 110 St and 96 St stops — also on the 6 — sit within about a ten-minute walk. The whole neighborhood runs on this single line.
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) · 50 families responded (12% rate)
Programs & Activities
Racial & Ethnic Diversity
NYC DOE InfoHub · 2022-23
PTA Fundraising
Source: DOE Local Law 171 disclosure
Discipline
NYSED Student & Educator Database (2023-24)
Economic Need & Special Populations
How to get in, step by step
Pre-K
The Lexington Academy also has Pre-K classes. They're a separate application from kindergarten, made on MySchools.
Pre-K application
Applications typically open in the winter and close in the spring, with offers in late spring; the city announces exact dates each year.
Kindergarten
The Lexington Academy has an attendance zone. At elementary level, in-zone students get a guaranteed seat. Every family still applies on MySchools: the application confirms the zoned seat, and ranking other schools doesn't cost you it.
Kindergarten application
- Opens
- Wed, Dec 9
- Closes
- Fri, Jan 22
- Offers
- Tue, Mar 30
The DOE’s published dates.
- 1Check that your address is inside the zone — zones change, so confirm it before you sign a lease.
- 2Apply during the kindergarten application, even with a zoned seat.
- 3Rank this school along with any others you'd take, in true preference order.
Middle school (6th grade)
Middle school is one citywide application, made in 5th grade. The Lexington Academy admits through one program, and each one has its own admissions method:
- The Lexington AcademyUnscreened67 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.
- 2Unscreened programs fill by random lottery among the families who rank them.
- 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 The Lexington Academy a good school?
- On Motley, The Lexington Academy earns an overall rating of 30/100 — 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 4 average.
- What grades does The Lexington Academy serve?
- The Lexington Academy serves grades Pre-K to 8.
- How do students get into The Lexington Academy?
- The Lexington Academy admits by application through a random lottery, with no academic screen.
- Is The Lexington Academy public, charter, or private?
- The Lexington Academy is a public school in NYC Community School District 4.
- What neighborhood is The Lexington Academy in?
- The Lexington Academy is in East Harlem (South), Manhattan.