Original Research by School Decision on Atmosphere Academy Public Charter School
Atmosphere Academy is a free public charter school operating across multiple Bronx campuses and serving grades 6 through 11. The enrollment spans from early middle school through the beginning of high school, with the largest cohorts in the middle grades and a smaller footprint in the high school years as the high school program itself is still growing.
The student body is predominantly Hispanic, with a substantial share of Black students and very small populations of Asian and white students. The enrollment data does not include the free-and-reduced-price-lunch count or the rates for students with IEPs or English learners, so a parent seeking to understand the school's economic context or support services for those populations would need to contact the school directly.
The school has undergone significant structural change in recent years. Publicly reported, Atmosphere Academy was originally a middle school but added high school grades through a charter revision approved by SUNY in mid-2021. The school opened grades 9 and 10 in the 2022-23 school year and has been adding a grade each year since. This transformation allows families to keep a child in the school through high school graduation rather than transfer out after 8th grade. Publicly reported, in early 2025 SUNY granted the school a five-year charter renewal with authority to expand further into an elementary program serving kindergarten through 12th grade, signaling the state's confidence in the school's performance and its trajectory.
On academic outcomes, state assessment data was not available in the comparison metrics, so a parent cannot see proficiency rates or graduation numbers from this summary. The publicly reported charter renewal documentation notes that Atmosphere outperformed the surrounding New York City district in English language arts and mathematics across the renewal term by meaningful margins, which suggests the school is competitive academically within the local landscape. A parent would benefit from reviewing the school's website or requesting current test results and course offerings directly to assess whether the academic program aligns with their child's needs.
Chronic absenteeism stands at a rate that places the school in the top quartile among the county's districts, meaning attendance is notably stronger here than at most peers in New York County. Per-pupil spending sits in the middle range, on the lower half, reflecting the school's charter status and funding model.
The school operates as a district unto itself, with a single entity encompassing all its Bronx locations. Given the ongoing expansion and the recent charter renewal, the organization is actively growing. For families considering the school, the key question is fit: whether the middle and high school grades align with the child's current or near-term needs, whether the Bronx location and the predominantly Hispanic and Black student population reflect the environment sought, and whether the school's publicly reported academic performance and the recent renewal signal the kind of continuity and investment a family values.
See more original research from School Decision →