Dream Charter School East Harlem, New York NY

Original Research by School Decision on Dream Charter School East Harlem

Dream Charter School East Harlem operates a single kindergarten-through-twelfth-grade campus in East Harlem, serving a diverse student population in a dense, mixed-use neighborhood of New York City. The school enrolled roughly a thousand students across all tested grades at the time of assessment, with a student body that is majority Hispanic and Black, and a substantial share qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch.

The school's academic profile shows consistent strength in the early elementary grades and a steeper challenge in middle school. In grade three through five, both math and English language arts proficiency rates are in the upper ranges, with third-grade math particularly strong. This performance holds through fifth grade in both subjects. Beginning in sixth grade, proficiency drops notably in both math and English language arts, and the decline continues into seventh grade. By seventh grade, fewer than two-thirds of tested students meet proficiency in either subject. The school did not report eighth-grade math or science results, which reflects the current grade configuration rather than a gap in the data.

Fifth-grade science proficiency is solid. The testing data comes from the New York State Testing Program and includes near-universal participation rates across these grade bands.

Compared to districts in New York County, Dream's overall proficiency index places it in the top quartile, an indication that the school's performance across subjects and grades stands above the median and approaches the highest-performing schools in the county. A parent may want to look into the middle-school transition more closely with the school, given the shift in performance at that level, and understand what support structures or curriculum decisions shape that experience.

The school is actively expanding. Beginning in 2026, Dream is launching free 3-K and Pre-K Head Start programs in East Harlem, offering full-day early education with meals, health services, and family support to children ages three and four. The organization also opened a new six-story K-12 campus in the South Bronx's Mott Haven neighborhood in early 2023, extending its network and providing an alternative site for families across the East Harlem and Bronx region.

The location itself is embedded in the block fabric of East Harlem, a densely populated neighborhood with high walkability, accessible transit via the subway system, and mixed-use character typical of Manhattan. The housing market in the surrounding zip code reflects the city's broader context: home values are well above state and national benchmarks, rental costs have risen year-over-year, and mortgage rates remain in the mid-six-percent range. For families considering enrollment, the school offers a full pre-K-12 pathway in an urban setting, with demonstrated academic strength in early elementary years and a high-poverty student population that the school supports through free meals and services.

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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	60	62.0%
Science	58	31.0%

Math

Grade 393%

School 93% · district not reported

▲ 34 pts above state median · ▲ 35 pts above county median

Grade 490%

School 90% · district not reported

▲ 31 pts above state median · ▲ 29 pts above county median

Grade 590%

School 90% · district not reported

▲ 39 pts above state median · ▲ 35 pts above county median

Grade 676%

School 76% · district not reported

▲ 31 pts above state median · ▲ 31 pts above county median

Grade 763%

School 63% · district not reported

▲ 10 pts above state median · ▲ 5 pts above county median

Grade 80%

School 0% · district not reported

▼ 37 pts below state median · even with county median

English language arts

Grade 397%

School 97% · district not reported

▲ 45 pts above state median · ▲ 41 pts above county median

Grade 477%

School 77% · district not reported

▲ 25 pts above state median · ▲ 14 pts above county median

Grade 593%

School 93% · district not reported

▲ 39 pts above state median · ▲ 29 pts above county median

Grade 666%

School 66% · district not reported

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

Grade 766%

School 66% · district not reported

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

Grade 877%

School 77% · district not reported

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

Science

Grade 585%

School 85% · district not reported

▲ 43 pts above state median · ▲ 39 pts above 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.