The top reported proficiency rate is 28% in English language arts. The lowest is 0% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Urban Assembly School for Applied Math and Science (the)
The Urban Assembly School for Applied Math and Science sits on Bathgate Avenue in the Belmont section of the Bronx, a middle-and-high-school serving grades six through twelve within New York City Geographic District 9. It is a regular public school, not a charter, and its name signals a real programmatic commitment: applied mathematics and science as an organizing lens for the curriculum.
The student body is almost entirely Hispanic and Black, with the two groups together comprising nearly the whole enrollment. The overwhelming majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, meaning this school serves one of the most economically pressed populations in the city. Data on English learners and students with IEPs was not available in the information provided. The school is a mid-sized option for its grade span.
State testing results on the New York State Testing Program cover grades six through eight in math and ELA, and grade eight in science. In both math and ELA, sixth and seventh graders reach proficiency at rates that are low in absolute terms, with roughly a quarter to a third of tested students hitting the state's proficiency bar. The science result for grade eight showed no tested students, which may reflect a scheduling or course-placement decision rather than an absence of science instruction, but a parent would want to ask the school directly. The grade-eight math result is based on a very small tested group and carries little weight as a general indicator. Across tested subjects and grades, the school's overall proficiency index places it in the bottom quartile relative to other districts in Bronx County. That comparison covers a limited set of Bronx County districts, so the precise positioning carries some context-dependency, but the direction is clear: academic proficiency as measured by state tests is an area where this school faces real challenges, and a family considering enrollment may want to explore with the school what supports and interventions are in place, particularly for students entering below grade level.
No trend data was available, so it is not possible to say whether results are improving, flat, or declining over time.
Because the school runs through grade twelve, it would ordinarily have a graduation rate, but that figure was not reported in the data provided. Information on chronic absenteeism was similarly absent. Program offerings, AP or dual-credit course access, and staffing data were not available either. These are meaningful gaps for a family trying to understand the upper-school academic pathway. The school is part of the Urban Assembly network, which publicly reports a focus on college readiness and career-connected learning, but the data provided does not let us characterize specific programs in detail.
On the curriculum side, NYC Solves means District 9 middle schools, including this one's middle grades, are moving to standardized math materials from EL Education, with full phase-in set for fall 2027. High school Algebra 1 already uses Illustrative Mathematics citywide. The NYC Reads literacy mandate applies to middle schools as well, standardizing reading curriculum across grades. These are citywide changes, not specific to this school, but they affect what instruction looks like here.
The neighborhood context is the South Bronx corridor near Fordham. The broader borough is genuinely walkable; the Bronx is transit-rich, with subway and bus service accessible from most of its neighborhoods, and the area around Bathgate Avenue is served by local transit. The borough itself is in a significant development cycle, with large-scale affordable housing construction underway across multiple neighborhoods and a major Metro-North expansion in planning. For families renting or buying in the Bronx, current typical home values in the relevant zip code are below the New York State benchmark, though values have been rising. Rents in the area reflect a city-level market that remains expensive relative to national norms.
The Bronx's civic infrastructure, the Bronx Zoo, New York Botanical Garden, an extensive library system, and major medical and educational institutions, gives students in this part of the city access to real-world science environments that a school with an applied math and science mission could potentially draw on. Whether and how this school does that in practice is something a visiting family would want to ask about directly.
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