Equity Project Charter School (the), New York NY

Original Research by School Decision on Equity Project Charter School (the)

The Equity Project Charter School is a full-service kindergarten through 8th grade school located in Washington Heights and Inwood, operated across three separate campuses by grade cluster. The school is a publicly funded charter that recently completed a landmark transformation: it began as a middle school serving grades 5 through 8 and has expanded to include a full early childhood and elementary pathway. Families can now enroll a child at kindergarten and remain through 8th grade, a structural change that reshapes how many parents think about school continuity in a crowded city enrollment landscape.

The school's enrollment is substantial for its grade band, drawing nearly all of its students from the local community. The vast majority of families qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, and the student population is predominantly Hispanic, with a small but present representation of Black, Asian, and multiracial students. Kindergarten through 8th grade testing data reveal a clear academic profile: proficiency is strong and rising as students move through the grades. In the early grades (3 and 4), proficiency in both math and English language arts sits in the moderate range. From grade 5 onward, the trajectory shifts markedly. By grades 7 and 8, math proficiency reaches strong levels, and English language arts also climbs substantially. This pattern—starting moderate and accelerating upward—suggests either that the school's instructional approach becomes more effective as students mature, or that the student composition shifts, or both. Science testing data are available only for grade 5, where proficiency is low; grade 8 science data were not reported.

The school's financial model is its defining characteristic and the primary thing families choose when they choose this school. The Equity Project famously made national news by paying all of its teachers a salary well above the national median for educators, funded almost entirely from the public per-pupil allocation New York City provides to charter schools. The school recently raised starting teacher pay to a level more than double the national average, with eligibility for annual bonuses. This model concentrates resources on teacher recruitment and retention rather than on administrative overhead, facility investment, or non-instructional programs. For families, this means the visible difference is the teaching force itself: experienced, well-compensated professionals with strong incentive to remain in the classroom.

The school admits via lottery and reports preferences for siblings of current students, students with disabilities, English language learners, and families receiving free or reduced lunch. This admissions design signals a commitment to serving the neighborhood's actual families rather than creating a selective enrollment pathway.

Housing in the Washington Heights and Inwood area is relatively modest in cost compared to much of Manhattan, and the neighborhood itself is a densely built, mixed-use urban area with public transit access and street-oriented commercial and residential corridors. Rents in the area have risen in recent years but remain lower than many other parts of the city.

A parent considering this school would be evaluating a strong, expanding charter with an unusually direct investment in teacher quality, serving a neighborhood population with high economic need and modest access to other schools. The academic pattern suggests students arrive at elementary reading levels often below proficiency, but advance substantially through middle school. This school fits families who value the teacher-centered model, want to stay in their neighborhood rather than travel across the city, and believe in the school's approach to closing skill gaps through grade progression.

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Academic performance

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

New York Regents Exams

3 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	98	87.0%
Science	73	74.0%
Social Studies	52	54.0%

Math

Grade 358%

School 58% · district not reported

▼ 1 pts below state median · even with county median

Grade 448%

School 48% · district not reported

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

Grade 558%

School 58% · district not reported

▲ 6 pts above state median · ▲ 2 pts above county median

Grade 671%

School 71% · district not reported

▲ 26 pts above state median · ▲ 26 pts above county median

Grade 785%

School 85% · district not reported

▲ 32 pts above state median · ▲ 27 pts above county median

Grade 886%

School 86% · district not reported

▲ 49 pts above state median · ▲ 86 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 343%

School 43% · district not reported

▼ 9 pts below state median · ▼ 13 pts below county median

Grade 430%

School 30% · district not reported

▼ 23 pts below state median · ▼ 34 pts below county median

Grade 557%

School 57% · district not reported

▲ 3 pts above state median · ▼ 8 pts below county median

Grade 647%

School 47% · district not reported

▲ 1 pts above state median · even with county median

Grade 763%

School 63% · district not reported

▲ 16 pts above state median · ▲ 7 pts above county median

Grade 872%

School 72% · district not reported

▲ 24 pts above state median · ▲ 19 pts above county median

Science

Grade 532%

School 32% · district not reported

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

Grade 80%

School 0% · district not reported

▼ 33 pts below state median · ▼ 8 pts below county median

This schoolDistrict average, 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 3Lower-income41%Higher-income64%23 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income32%Higher-income0%31 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income56%Higher-income71%15 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income44%Higher-income86%41 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income63%Higher-income67%4 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income71%Higher-income89%18 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income57%Higher-income64%6 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income51%Higher-income13%38 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income58%Higher-income57%0 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income70%Higher-income86%15 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income87%Higher-income70%17 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income85%Higher-income100%15 pp gap