The top reported proficiency rate is 80% in English language arts. The lowest is 32% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Pharos Academy Charter School
Pharos Academy Charter School sits on Intervale Avenue in the Bronx's Longwood neighborhood, a dense urban corridor in the South Bronx where brick apartment buildings, small commercial strips, and well-used sidewalks define the texture of daily life. The school runs kindergarten through twelfth grade, making it one of the comparatively rare charter schools that can take a child from their first classroom to a diploma without requiring a school change.
The school's recent history is worth understanding before anything else. It was formerly known as Bronx Lighthouse Charter School and operated under the Lighthouse Academies network. The school publicly reports that it separated from that management structure, renamed itself Pharos Academy, and brought academic services in-house, with the stated goal of increasing local control and community voice. The Board of Regents also approved an enrollment increase in 2023, allowing the school to grow its capacity. A 2024 state decision required the New York City Department of Education to provide Pharos with co-location space or rental assistance tied to its grade-level expansion, a facilities question that a prospective family may want to follow up on directly with the school to understand how space and programming have settled.
On academics, the state testing picture for grades three through seven is genuinely strong. Math proficiency across those grades runs well above the midpoint by any reasonable read, with grade four posting especially high results and no grade below the upper seventies in proportion of students scoring at levels three or four on the New York State Testing Program. ELA follows a similar pattern through the middle grades, with grade five and grade seven both posting results in the upper eighties. Third grade ELA is the one soft spot, landing noticeably lower than the other grades, though still above what many Bronx schools report; a parent may want to ask the school directly about early literacy supports. Science was reported only at fifth grade among tested grades, and the result there was more modest than the math and ELA numbers, sitting in the mid-sixties. No eighth-grade math or science data was reported in the state system, which appears to reflect a gap in the school's tested population for that grade rather than a redacted result; a parent should ask the school to clarify enrollment and testing in eighth grade.
Placed against districts in Bronx County, Pharos's overall proficiency index lands in the top quartile of the comparison set, which is a meaningful position given how many schools operate in the county.
Demographically, the school serves an overwhelmingly Hispanic and Black student body, with Hispanic students making up roughly two-thirds of enrollment and Black students close to a third. The vast majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting the economic circumstances of the surrounding neighborhood. Data on students with IEPs and English learners was not available in the records we reviewed, so families whose children fall into either group should ask the school specifically about those services.
The school serves every grade from kindergarten through twelfth, and graduation rate data was not available in the records we reviewed. That gap is worth asking about. Families with high school-aged children will also want to ask about AP course access, college counseling, and any dual-credit or career pathway offerings, since no program data was provided and those questions are not answerable from the current record.
On housing, the zip code around the school sits at roughly the state median for home values, and those values have risen year over year. Rents in the area are substantial in absolute terms. Families looking at Pharos from outside the neighborhood should factor in that this part of the Bronx is actively adding housing, particularly affordable units, through several publicly reported developments in Melrose, Concourse, and adjacent areas, which may affect the options available to families seeking to relocate closer to the school.
The broader borough is well-served by transit, and the Longwood area is reachable by the 2 and 5 subway lines, which matters for families spread across the borough or commuting from other neighborhoods.
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