The Locke School of Arts and Engineering

Locke's test scores remain below District 3 averages — ELA proficiency at 50.6% trails the district's 59.3%, and math at 39.1% is well behind the district's 54% — but the trajectory is the more important story. ELA proficiency has roughly doubled since 2019 (from 25%), and math has more than doubled (from 19.4% to 39.1%). The strongest grade-level performance is third-grade ELA at 57.7%, while fifth-grade math at 27.8% stands out as an area needing attention. The overall school quality score of 1.79 out of 4 sits below the district average of 2.27, but the direction of travel is unmistakable.

The day-to-day climate at Locke reads as warm and trusting, even as attendance struggles. Teacher-reported safety is 99% (versus a district average of about 94%), and the school has reported zero suspensions for three consecutive years — an unusual record in a city school. Parent satisfaction runs high at 92%, with 98% reporting strong relationships with teachers and 96% trusting them — well above district norms. Teacher surveys similarly reflect confidence in leadership and instruction quality, with 92% rating instruction positively. The contradiction is attendance: at 88.3% it's below the district's 90.4%, and chronic absenteeism affects 54.6% of students, with particularly elevated rates among multiracial and White subgroups in the data.

Locke reflects its South Harlem surroundings: 43% Black, 33% Hispanic, 16% White, and 5% multiracial — a diversity index of 72%. The economic need index of 76.3 signals a high share of students from low-income households, and 24% of students have IEPs, a meaningful special education population. Class size matches the district average at 23.1, but PTA fundraising runs at about $133 per student versus the district's $627 — a stark gap that reflects the economic realities of the families served.

South Harlem is a middle-income, densely settled neighborhood where the median household income is about $68,758 and roughly one in five households lives below the poverty line. Just over half of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and most residents rent rather than own — homeownership sits at 18.2% — typical of central Manhattan. Families with children make up 12.4% of households. The area is firmly residential and well-served by transit.

The school is exceptionally well-connected: the 2 and 3 trains at 110 St–Malcolm X Plaza are about a two-minute walk, the 6 train at 110 St is roughly eight minutes, and the 2 and 3 at 116 St are about six minutes away.