Thurgood Marshall Academy Lower School

Test scores show a school on the rebound. After dipping during the pandemic years — ELA fell to 35% in 2024, math to 30.6% — the 2025 scores jumped to 54.4% ELA and 39.7% math. That ELA score is now slightly above the district average (53.9%), though math remains notably below district average (50.7%). The strongest performance comes from 4th graders, who hit 60.9% ELA and 52.2% math — a real bright spot. Younger students in 3rd grade lag behind, suggesting the school may need to focus on early intervention strategies.

Here's where Thurgood Marshall gets interesting. Parents absolutely love this school: 97% satisfaction, 96% trust in teachers, and 98% trust in the principal. Teachers themselves give high marks for instruction quality (90%, above district average) and report feeling safe (87%). But there's a split: teacher-principal trust sits at only 62%, and teacher collegial trust at 71%. With only 9 teacher survey responses, take those numbers with caution, but they suggest some internal tension that parents may not see. Attendance is a real challenge — 85.9% overall, with nearly 40% of students chronically absent, and girls are absent more often than boys (43.9% vs 34.8%). Discipline is minimal with just one suspension last year, so the environment feels calm.

This is a tight-knit school in a family-dense neighborhood. With only 180 students across grades PK-5, class sizes stay small at about 19 kids — right around the district average. The student body is 77% Black and 19% Hispanic, mirroring the surrounding Harlem community. Nearly a quarter of students have IEPs, and 88% come from economically disadvantaged households. The diversity index is low at 37%, reflecting the homogeneous makeup of this neighborhood school. What stands out is the strong family engagement — family survey response rate is 54%, much higher than typical.

North Harlem is a transit-rich, family-oriented neighborhood with real tradeoffs. Families have excellent access to subway lines (95.79 percentile for transit), and the area scores high on family density (also 95.79). However, safety indicators are concerning — the crime density is high (6,777 per area measure), and health environment scores are low (5.36), with elevated asthma rates and lead exposure concerns. The median home value is $713,860, but only 12.6% of residents own homes, meaning most families rent. There's a strong sense of community here, with cultural institutions and neighborhood pride, though resources for families with children are limited (only 10.3% of households have kids).

Very walkable and transit-accessible — the neighborhood is pedestrian-friendly with easy access to multiple subway lines, making it manageable for families without cars