Original Research by School Decision on Broome Street Academy Charter High School
Broome Street Academy Charter High School is a New York County charter school serving grades 9 through 12 with an enrollment of several hundred students. The school drew recent public attention when its SUNY charter was renewed in early 2026, but with conditional terms that mark a significant shift in its oversight. Where the school's prior renewal had been unconditional and granted for a full term, the new renewal comes with requirements tied directly to academic performance and post-secondary outcomes. The school must now meet at least half its accountability targets across at least three performance areas, or it will become ineligible for the next renewal cycle. This conditional structure reflects documented struggles during the preceding term around inconsistent academic results, school culture, enrollment stability, and instructional leadership, though the renewal report notes the school showed improvement in its final year before the renewal decision.
The student body is predominantly Black and Hispanic, with each group representing substantial shares of enrollment. The school draws students from across all five boroughs. State testing data and graduation rates were not available, so a parent cannot assess this school's academic proficiency or completion outcomes from standard state measures. This data gap is material for a high school family and warrants direct conversation with the school about how it measures academic progress and tracks post-secondary placement.
The school's authorized enrollment was adjusted downward through the 2026 renewal, which affects the number of available seats and the scale of the community a family would join. Per-pupil spending at this school sits in the upper range among New York County districts, positioning it among the higher-spending schools in the county.
One attendance metric is available: chronic absenteeism rates place the school in the bottom quartile of county districts, meaning many students are absent at rates that would typically concern educators. Whether this reflects barriers to attendance, engagement with the school day, or other factors would be worth exploring directly with the school.
The conditional renewal and the documented prior instability create a moment of transition. Families considering this school should understand that it is operating under heightened accountability and that the coming years will determine whether it meets the targets now required for continued operation. The school's publicly reported focus on post-secondary outcomes suggests college and career readiness are core to its mission, but concrete data on where graduates go and what they accomplish would help families assess whether the school's approach aligns with their goals.
See more original research from School Decision →