At a Glance
A relationship-driven zoned school where families feel heard — though classroom results haven't kept pace
Best suited for
Families who live in the zone and want a small, relationship-focused school with a gentle, non-punitive approach — and who are prepared to prioritize daily attendance and family engagement to help their child succeed academically.
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
- Zero suspensions for three straight years — a notably gentle, non-punitive discipline culture.
- 96% parent satisfaction and 100% report strong family-school relationships, even with low test scores.
- 27% IEP enrollment — substantially higher than typical, signaling robust inclusion and special education services.
- Sits adjacent to Roberto Clemente State Park, giving students access to a rare 30-acre green space right next door.
Things to consider
- Academic proficiency is far below district average in both ELA and math, and year-to-year swings make the trajectory hard to read.
- Chronic absenteeism at 55% is high — getting kids to school consistently is a real challenge here.
- Teacher morale is mixed: only 48% trust the principal and 76% rate instruction quality as high, which parents don't seem to see the same way.
- The nearest subway is a 10–14 minute walk, which can be tough for small children in bad weather.
- As a zoned school, there's no application process for local families — but also no way to pick this school from outside the zone.
Based on 2024-25 data
School SummaryDistrict 9
District 9 is home to some of the city's top-performing charters (Icahn at 99/100, Success Academy Bronx 2 at 97/100), but as a traditional zoned school, New American Academy scores well below those peers and below the district overall average of about 1.79/4.
Academics
ELA proficiency at 26.1% and math at 14.6% both sit far below the district averages of roughly 45%. Year-to-year scores have swung wildly — a deep COVID-era dip in 2022 (6.3% ELA, 3.6% math) and a math spike to 26.7% in 2024 that didn't hold — so the picture is choppy rather than clearly improving or declining. The 10-year endpoints land close to where they started. Grade 4 ELA at 31.3% is the brightest spot in an otherwise flat landscape.
Culture
Parents love this school: 96% satisfaction, 95% trust in teachers and the principal, and 100% report strong teacher-family relationships. But the teachers tell a different story — only 48% trust the principal (well below the district norm) and just 76% rate instruction quality as high versus 90% district-wide. Chronic absenteeism at 55% means more than half the kids miss too much school, and teacher-reported safety at 71% trails the district's 83%. On the upside, the discipline approach is strikingly gentle: zero suspensions for three consecutive years.
Community
About 437 students, almost entirely Hispanic (60%) and Black (36%), with 27% on IEPs — well above a typical elementary school and a signal that special education services are a real part of daily life here. The neighborhood profile (median household income around $32,000, 37% in poverty) closely mirrors who walks through the door. With only about 15% of neighborhood adults holding a bachelor's degree, the school serves families where English language learning and special needs are the norm, not the exception.
Neighborhood
This stretch of University Heights/Morris Heights, just up the hill from the Harlem River, is a dense, working-class neighborhood with very low homeownership (under 7%) and a poverty rate north of 37%. Household incomes are modest (median around $32,000) but the area is full of families with kids. Getting around by subway means a real walk — the 1 train at 191 St or Dyckman St, or the 4 at Mt Eden Avenue, are all 10–14 minutes on foot.
Most families walk or take the bus; the nearest subway is the 1 at 191 St (about a 10-minute walk), with the 1 at Dyckman St (about 13 minutes) and the 4 at Mt Eden Av (about 14 minutes) also serving the area.
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
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) · 62 families responded (19% rate)
Racial & Ethnic Diversity
NYC DOE InfoHub · 2022-23
Discipline
NYSED Student & Educator Database (2023-24)
Economic Need & Special Populations
How to get in, step by step
Pre-K
The New American Academy at Roberto Clemente State Park 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 New American Academy at Roberto Clemente State Park 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.
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 New American Academy at Roberto Clemente State Park a good school?
- On Motley, The New American Academy at Roberto Clemente State Park earns an overall rating of 20/100 — 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 9 average.
- What grades does The New American Academy at Roberto Clemente State Park serve?
- The New American Academy at Roberto Clemente State Park serves grades Pre-K to 5.
- How do students get into The New American Academy at Roberto Clemente State Park?
- The New American Academy at Roberto Clemente State Park admits by zone — children who live in its attendance zone get a guaranteed seat.
- Is The New American Academy at Roberto Clemente State Park public, charter, or private?
- The New American Academy at Roberto Clemente State Park is a public school in NYC Community School District 9.
- What neighborhood is The New American Academy at Roberto Clemente State Park in?
- The New American Academy at Roberto Clemente State Park is in University Heights (South)-Morris Heights, Bronx.