Renaissance School of the Arts, New York NY

Original Research by School Decision on Renaissance School of the Arts

Renaissance School of the Arts is a middle school serving grades six through eight in East Harlem, located on East 117th Street. The school draws students almost entirely from the immediate neighborhood, with nearly all students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch and the enrollment split predominantly between Hispanic and Black students, with a small number of Asian, Native American, and other students.

The school's academic results, measured by New York State tests in English language arts and math, show mixed performance across grades. Sixth-grade proficiency in English is modest, with roughly one in four students meeting state standards in reading and a similar share in math. Seventh-grade results improve notably: more than half the students reached proficiency in English, and roughly half in math. Eighth-grade English proficiency sits between the two, just above two in five students. Eighth-grade math has no tested students reported, which is unusual and a parent may want to ask the school directly about. Science testing in eighth grade shows particularly low results, with only a small fraction of students meeting proficiency, and the participation rate in science was notably lower than in other subjects, suggesting either testing logistics or data-reporting variation worth understanding with the school. These results place Renaissance well below the median proficiency across schools in New York County, positioning it in the bottom tier among county peers.

The school's size is small to modest for an urban middle school, with under one hundred fifty total students across its three grades. The sixth-grade cohort is the smallest; seventh and eighth grades are larger. The enrollment appears stable, though the data does not show trend information.

New York City's District 4, which serves East Harlem, has undergone significant shifts in curriculum and instruction. Starting in the current school year, all elementary schools in the district shifted to one of three prescribed phonics-based reading programs, replacing the prior balanced literacy model that had been standard in NYC schools for years. While this change applies to grades K through five, its effects on how students progress through reading in middle school may be visible in coming years. The district's middle schools, including Renaissance, fall in the phase set to adopt standardized math curriculum in the 2026-27 school year, meaning math teaching and materials will shift from school-by-school choices to a citywide, problem-based framework.

The immediate neighborhood around the school is the dense, mixed-use urban environment that defines East Harlem. Residential and commercial uses are woven together; the area is highly walkable with extensive public transit access. Median home values in the zip code are in the mid-range for New York City, and rents have risen modestly in recent months. The economy of East Harlem is tied to the broader New York City job market, with growth concentrated in technology, professional services, and hospitality.

For a family considering Renaissance, the primary considerations are the school's current academic performance, which is weak relative to other options in the city, and the school's identity as an arts-focused program, though the data provided did not specify what that arts emphasis entails or how it shapes the student experience. A parent should ask directly about the arts curriculum, the school's specific academic supports for students working to improve proficiency, and what the eighth-grade math situation represents. The school is accessible by transit and embedded in the neighborhood rather than sited remotely, which fits the built environment many East Harlem families navigate daily.

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Academic performance

How students perform on state tests, by grade, set against the district.

New York Regents Exams

2 courses reported · 2024-25

End-of-course exams required for a New York Regents diploma. Each row shows the cohort size and the share of students scoring at the proficient level or higher.

Course	Students tested	% proficient
Math	29	24.0%
Science	18	33.0%

Math

Grade 619%

School 19% · District 45% · ▼ 26 pts below district

▼ 26 pts below state median · ▼ 26 pts below county median

Grade 746%

School 46% · District 45%

▼ 7 pts below state median · ▼ 12 pts below county median

Grade 80%

School 0% · District 38% · ▼ 38 pts below district

▼ 37 pts below state median · even with county median

English language arts

Grade 623%

School 23% · District 46% · ▼ 23 pts below district

▼ 22 pts below state median · ▼ 24 pts below county median

Grade 757%

School 57% · District 50% · ▲ 7 pts above district

▲ 10 pts above state median · ▲ 1 pts above county median

Grade 838%

School 38% · District 48% · ▼ 10 pts below district

▼ 10 pts below state median · ▼ 15 pts below county median

Science

Grade 86%

School 6% · District 30% · ▼ 24 pts below district

▼ 27 pts below state median · ▼ 3 pts below county median

This schoolNEW YORK CITY GEOGRAPHIC DISTRICT # 4, same grade

Graduation rate (ACGR) reflects the federally published Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate for the most recent year available. We refresh this data annually at the close of each academic year in June. The federal source publishes a banded rate (for example, "90-94%") instead of an exact number for cohorts small enough to risk identifying individual students. The state distribution chart, where shown, plots every school in the state with a published rate or band; schools whose rate is federally suppressed are excluded. Where the federal source publishes a band rather than an exact rate, the school is placed within its band using a stable, ID-derived offset, so its position is consistent across visits.

Proficiency by household income

Mathematics

Grade 8Lower-income0%Higher-income0%0 pp gap