Bronx School of Young Leaders (the), Bronx NY

Original Research by School Decision on Bronx School of Young Leaders (the)

The Bronx School of Young Leaders is a public middle school in the West Tremont area of the Bronx, serving grades six through eight within NYC Geographic District 10. The enrollment is small enough that the school feels intimate relative to many Bronx middle schools, and nearly all students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting the economic profile of the surrounding neighborhood. The student body is predominantly Hispanic, with a substantial share of Black students and very small numbers of other racial groups. Data on English learner and special education populations was not available in the data provided.

State testing results from the most recent year paint a mixed but readable picture. In math, about four in ten sixth graders and about four in ten eighth graders reached proficiency on the New York State assessment, while seventh grade was somewhat lower. In English language arts, sixth and seventh grade proficiency rates were roughly a third of students, with eighth grade performing noticeably better. Science results at the eighth grade level were in roughly the same range as ELA and math. Measured against a comparison set of districts in Bronx County, the school's overall proficiency index sits in the bottom quartile of that group. These figures are worth a direct conversation with school leadership about what academic supports are in place and how the school is tracking student growth year over year, since a single proficiency snapshot does not capture trajectory.

One data note: the system returned grade five results showing zero students tested, which reflects the school's actual grade band. Young Leaders does not serve fifth grade, so those rows carry no meaningful results.

The school has no graduation rate to report, as it is a middle school. AP coursework, dual enrollment, and career pathway data were not available in the payload, which is expected for a grades six through eight setting.

On the district level, a few changes are worth knowing. NYC's literacy mandate, NYC Reads, shifted District 10 schools to one of three phonics-based reading curricula starting in the 2024-25 school year, replacing the older school-by-school approach that often included balanced literacy. That is a real change in how reading is taught, and families may want to ask the school specifically how the new curriculum has been implemented at the middle grades level. Separately, the city reinstated academic screening for selective high school admissions beginning with the 2023-24 cycle, meaning seventh-grade grades now shape which tier a student lands in for competitive high school seats. For a student at Young Leaders, eighth grade will arrive with those stakes in view. The city also removed district boundaries for middle school applications starting in fall 2024, which means families choosing a middle school now have citywide options, though in-district students retain priority.

The surrounding Bronx neighborhood along West Tremont is urban and walkable in the way much of the western Bronx is: transit-connected, apartment-dense, with commercial corridors nearby. The housing market in the school's zip code has been rising, with home values currently above both the state and national medians, and rents running high, consistent with the broader Bronx trajectory of strong investment and development activity. The borough is in a significant affordable-housing construction phase, with major projects underway across multiple neighborhoods, but those shifts in the housing stock have not meaningfully eased costs for renters in the near term.

For a family evaluating this school, the honest picture is a small, high-poverty urban middle school with test scores that trail the Bronx County district comparison set. Whether that gap reflects the school's incoming population, its instructional approach, or something else is a question the data alone cannot answer.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 50%

School 0% · District 41% · ▼ 41 pts below district

▼ 51 pts below state median · ▼ 46 pts below county median

Grade 644%

School 44% · District 34% · ▲ 10 pts above district

▼ 1 pts below state median · ▲ 4 pts above county median

Grade 737%

School 37% · District 42% · ▼ 5 pts below district

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

Grade 847%

School 47% · District 38% · ▲ 9 pts above district

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

English language arts

Grade 50%

School 0% · District 47% · ▼ 47 pts below district

▼ 54 pts below state median · ▼ 53 pts below county median

Grade 633%

School 33% · District 39% · ▼ 6 pts below district

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

Grade 733%

School 33% · District 43% · ▼ 9 pts below district

▼ 14 pts below state median · ▼ 14 pts below county median

Grade 844%

School 44% · District 45% · ▼ 1 pts below district

▼ 4 pts below state median · ▼ 5 pts below county median

Science

Grade 50%

School 0% · District 31% · ▼ 30 pts below district

▼ 42 pts below state median · ▼ 31 pts below county median

Grade 843%

School 43% · District 33% · ▲ 11 pts above district

▲ 10 pts above state median · ▲ 15 pts above county median

Social studies

Grade 828%

School 28% · district not reported

▼ 50 pts below state median · even with county median

This schoolNEW YORK CITY GEOGRAPHIC DISTRICT #10, 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

English language arts

Grade 7Lower-income33%Higher-income40%7 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income42%Higher-income58%16 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 7Lower-income36%Higher-income50%14 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income42%Higher-income85%42 pp gap