Urban Assembly School for Media Studies, The

The clearest academic signal here is structural rather than numerical: AP courses are on offer, ELL support is integrated, and Italian is taught — a relatively uncommon world language in DOE high schools. Average class size sits at 23.1, identical to the district average, so class size isn't a differentiator. State proficiency figures aren't part of this snapshot, so it isn't possible to grade the school against the district's 59% ELA or 54% math averages.

Day to day, this school reads as calm and unusually trusting. Parents give the principal a 97% approval mark — well above the district's 88% parent-satisfaction average — and teachers report 91% trust in leadership and 94% collegial trust, the kind of staff climate that usually shows up in low turnover. The standout number is zero suspensions against a district suspension rate of about 0.39%, which for families with older students feels like a real differentiator. The 88% teacher-instruction-quality rating sits right at the district norm — solid, not exceptional — and the high parent and family response rates (263 family surveys, 85% response) suggest this isn't a community that's checked out.

The student body is 61% Hispanic, 31% Black, 3% white, and 2% Asian — a markedly different demographic mix from the surrounding Lincoln Square neighborhood, where the median household income is above $162,000 and only 9% of residents are below the poverty line. Twenty percent of students have IEPs and the economic need index of 78.2 means most students come from lower-income households, meaning families likely travel in from across the city rather than living within walking distance. That mismatch between school demographics and neighborhood demographics is real and worth naming — the school gives citywide kids an Upper West Side address during the school day.

The school sits inside the Upper West Side–Lincoln Square census tract, one of the wealthiest in New York City: more than 83% of adults nearby hold a bachelor's degree, the median home is worth about $1.5 million, and just 15% of households have children under 18. Because of those demographics, very few of the school's actual students are neighborhood kids — the surrounding blocks are largely adult professionals and older residents, while the student body commutes in from elsewhere. The immediate area is leafy and anchored by Lincoln Center, with foot traffic that feels more cultural-institution than school-zone.

Three subway options serve the school: 66 St–Lincoln Center on the 1 (about a 5-minute walk), 72 St on the 1/2/3 (about 7 minutes), and 59 St–Columbus Circle on the 1 (about 11 minutes).