At a Glance
An architecture and design–focused high school that draws a working-class student body into one of Brooklyn's most expensive neighborhoods.
Best suited for
Creative, hands-on learners — especially students interested in architecture, design, photography, or building trades — who want a structured, trusting environment and don't mind commuting into a neighborhood that doesn't look like their own.
Overall Rating
Rating = average of 4-year graduation, English Regents college-ready and Regents completion · DOE 2025 report
Bands are Motley's thresholds on a 0–100 scale, not New York State performance levels.
How this is scored→What stands out
- The Architecture and Design program draws over 1,200 applicants for 124 seats, making it one of the more selective unscreened-admission programs in the borough.
- A rare combination of arts (photography, music, art & design) and vocational offerings (woodworking, electrical installation) alongside AP coursework.
- Zero suspensions reported in the most recent year, against a district average suspension rate above half a percent.
- High trust across the board — 97% teacher–principal trust and 95% parent satisfaction suggest a school where adults are aligned.
- Three subway lines within a six-minute walk make this one of the better-located high schools in the district for commuting families.
Things to consider
- The school serves a high-need population in a wealthy neighborhood — families should expect a student body quite different from the surrounding blocks.
- Nearly a quarter of students have IEPs, which is high and worth factoring into conversations about support services.
- Proficiency data isn't available in this profile, so academic outcomes are hard to judge from outside.
- The unscreened label applies to the school, not the Architecture and Design major — that program admits roughly 1 in 10 applicants.
- Program richness is strong, but families looking for traditional athletics-heavy high school culture may want to weigh that against the design/arts emphasis.
Based on 2024-25 data
School SummaryDistrict 14
District 14 includes several high-profile charter schools (Success Academy campuses in Bed-Stuy and Williamsburg) that anchor the top of the local peer list, but this school posts a program richness score of 90/100 — competitive with those peers and well above most traditional public options in the area.
Academics
The school offers AP coursework and an unusually broad set of arts and vocational programs (photography, music, woodworking, electrical installation), but proficiency data isn't reported here, so it's hard to say how it stacks up academically. Average class size of 21.6 is right at the district average, so students aren't getting unusually small or large sections. The competitive Architecture and Design program (a 10% offer rate) suggests the school is pulling motivated applicants from across the borough.
Culture
This is one of the most striking climate profiles in the data: zero suspensions in the most recent year, against a district average suspension rate of about 0.56%. Parent satisfaction runs at 95%, teacher trust in the principal at 97%, and teacher-reported instruction quality at 94% — all above district norms. The 67% family survey response rate is solid for a high school and suggests families are engaged enough to actually weigh in. The day-to-day feel, based on these numbers, is orderly and unusually trusting between teachers, families, and leadership.
Community
About 60% of students identify as Hispanic and 28% as Black, with a 76% economic need index and a notably high 24% of students with IEPs. The neighborhood around the school looks very different: median household income is about $129,000, over 63% of adults have a bachelor's degree, and only 12.5% of households include children — a sign of how many young professionals and recent arrivals live nearby. That gap means most students likely commute in from other parts of Brooklyn rather than walking over from the surrounding blocks.
Neighborhood
Williamsburg is one of Brooklyn's best-known and most expensive neighborhoods — homeownership is rare here, and the housing stock is priced well beyond what most families in this school could afford. The census shows a population with high educational attainment and relatively few children, reflecting the area's reputation as a hub for young professionals, artists, and recent arrivals. Families visiting the school will notice the contrast immediately: a walk-up creative high school tucked into a block of condos and new development.
The school is unusually well-served by transit: Bedford Av (L) is about a 4-minute walk, and both Metropolitan Av (G) and Lorimer St (L) are roughly 6 minutes away.
Survey Results
NYC School Survey (2025) · 403 families responded (67% rate)
Programs & Activities
Admissions Demand
Students engage in a course of study that promotes creative thought and technical proficiency. Students learn the principles of design must articulate and defend their creative decisions. Students learn industry methodologies to draft, communicate, and render physical prototypes of their designs. This ability to both create and build makes our students highly desirable for paid internships with industry partners. Priority given to students who are eligible for Free Lunch (based on family income) for up to 63% of seats.
Racial & Ethnic Diversity
NYC DOE InfoHub · 2022-23
Discipline
NYSED Student & Educator Database
Economic Need & Special Populations
How to get in, step by step
High school (9th grade)
High school is one citywide application, made in 8th grade. Williamsburg High School for Architecture and Design admits through one program, and each one has its own admissions method:
- Architecture and DesignUnscreened
High school application
- Opened
- Tue, Oct 6
- Closes
- Fri, Dec 4
- Offers
- Wed, Mar 3
The DOE’s published dates.
- 1Apply on MySchools during the high school application, in 8th 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 Williamsburg High School for Architecture and Design a good school?
- On Motley, Williamsburg High School for Architecture and Design earns an overall rating of 74/100 — the average of the school's four-year graduation rate, the share of its students scoring college-ready (70+) on the English Regents, and its Regents completion rate, shown out of 100.
- What grades does Williamsburg High School for Architecture and Design serve?
- Williamsburg High School for Architecture and Design serves grades 9 to 12.
- How do students get into Williamsburg High School for Architecture and Design?
- Williamsburg High School for Architecture and Design admits by application through a random lottery, with no academic screen.
- Is Williamsburg High School for Architecture and Design public, charter, or private?
- Williamsburg High School for Architecture and Design is a public school in NYC Community School District 14.
- What neighborhood is Williamsburg High School for Architecture and Design in?
- Williamsburg High School for Architecture and Design is in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.