Brilla College Preparatory Charter School, Bronx NY

Original Research by School Decision on Brilla College Preparatory Charter School

Brilla College Preparatory Charter School sits on East 144th Street in the South Bronx, serving students from kindergarten through tenth grade. It is a charter school, publicly reported as a virtues-based, college-preparatory network with Catholic roots, drawing students from one of New York City's densest and most working-class boroughs. Nearly all of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, and the school is predominantly Hispanic, with a substantial Black student population as well. Data on English learner rates and students with IEPs was not available in our data, so a parent with questions on those supports should ask the school directly.

On the New York State assessments, the picture is genuinely mixed and worth examining grade by grade. In the early grades, math and ELA results are comparatively strong: third graders are proficient in math at a rate that well exceeds most of the comparison set, and ELA results at that grade are similarly above the midpoint. Relative to districts in Bronx County, Brilla's overall proficiency index places it in the top quartile of that comparison set, which covers over a hundred entities in the county. That is a meaningful position for a school serving an almost entirely low-income population in a high-cost borough. Reading performance in seventh and eighth grade holds up well, with eighth grade ELA results being among the school's strongest. Math proficiency dips more noticeably in the middle grades and falls furthest in eighth grade, where the rate drops to roughly a third of students tested; a parent whose child is approaching that transition should ask the school specifically about its math trajectory and what supports are in place. The eighth grade math participation rate was also notably lower than other grades, which the school may be able to explain. Science results in fifth grade were below half of students reaching proficiency; eighth grade science data was not available.

Trend data across years was not available, so it is not possible to say whether these results reflect improvement, stability, or decline.

One development that matters for families thinking long-term: publicly reported information describes a deliberate pathway from Brilla's K-8 grades into Vertex Partnership Academies, a joint charter high school in Soundview operated with Public Prep, offering an International Baccalaureate program. Brilla's school currently extends to tenth grade, placing students on that IB track. The existence of a named, connected high school pathway is meaningful in a charter landscape where families otherwise face re-entering the lottery at ninth grade. Vertex is publicly reported as an authorized IB World School. The charter itself was renewed by the SUNY Charter Schools Institute in 2025, authorizing operation through the 2029-30 school year, which gives families a reasonable planning horizon.

The network is also growing. Publicly reported plans describe additional middle school campuses opening in the Bronx in recent years, expanding the number of available seats across the borough. A parent applying today should confirm which campus and grade they are applying to, as Brilla now operates multiple sites.

The surrounding neighborhood sits in a part of the South Bronx that is changing quickly. The borough overall is in an intense development phase, with large affordable housing projects concentrated in Mott Haven, Melrose, and nearby corridors, and transit remains dense, with multiple subway lines, an extensive bus network, and planned Metro-North stops that would add stations along parts of the South Bronx waterfront. Housing costs near the school are high relative to national benchmarks, driven partly by the broader New York City market; rents in the relevant zip code have been rising, though more slowly than home values.

Program-specific data, AP course access, and staffing details were not available for this profile. A graduation rate does not yet apply to the full school, as the tenth-grade cohort is still early in the high school sequence. Chronic absenteeism data was also not available.

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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
Science	87	62.0%
Social Studies	28	79.0%
Ela	24	50.0%

Math

Grade 369%

School 69% · district not reported

▲ 10 pts above state median · ▲ 11 pts above county median

Grade 454%

School 54% · district not reported

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

Grade 544%

School 44% · district not reported

▼ 7 pts below state median · ▼ 2 pts below county median

Grade 654%

School 54% · district not reported

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

Grade 753%

School 53% · district not reported

even with state median · ▲ 4 pts above county median

Grade 834%

School 34% · district not reported

▼ 3 pts below state median · ▼ 3 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 362%

School 62% · district not reported

▲ 10 pts above state median · ▲ 13 pts above county median

Grade 456%

School 56% · district not reported

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

Grade 560%

School 60% · district not reported

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

Grade 651%

School 51% · district not reported

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

Grade 763%

School 63% · district not reported

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

Grade 873%

School 73% · district not reported

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

Science

Grade 536%

School 36% · district not reported

▼ 5 pts below state median · ▲ 5 pts above county median

Grade 80%

School 0% · district not reported

▼ 33 pts below state median · ▼ 28 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-income60%Higher-income80%20 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income57%Higher-income50%6 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income48%Higher-income80%32 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income74%Higher-income57%17 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income64%Higher-income100%36 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income56%Higher-income38%18 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income50%Higher-income100%50 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income54%Higher-income40%14 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income36%Higher-income20%16 pp gap