South Bronx Early College Academy Charter School, Bronx NY

Original Research by School Decision on South Bronx Early College Academy Charter School

South Bronx Early College Academy Charter School is a small public charter school serving grades six through eight in the South Bronx. The school sits at Westchester Avenue in a neighborhood that is part of the borough's rapid growth phase, with new affordable housing projects and transit expansion under way.

The school's academic profile shows students working below state proficiency benchmarks across both tested subjects. In English language arts, proficiency ranges from roughly a quarter of eighth graders to just under half of seventh graders at or above state proficiency levels. Mathematics proficiency is similarly low, with sixth graders at roughly a quarter of students proficient and seventh graders around forty percent. The school does not currently test eighth grade students in mathematics or science, so those grades contribute no testing data to the school's profile. No trend data was available to show how these results have moved over time.

Nearly all students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting the economic circumstances of the families the school serves. The student body is predominantly Hispanic, with smaller shares of Black and Asian students. The enrollment is small and stable across the three grades, sitting in the range of around eighty to ninety students per grade level.

The school's name announces its academic focus. Eighth graders can now earn New York State Regents credit in Algebra, Living Environment (biology), and U.S. History before moving into high school, a pathway the school explicitly offers to students interested in accelerated coursework and early college progress. This is a genuine differentiator for a middle school, positioning students who complete these courses ahead in their high school years.

In May 2023 the school's charter was renewed for a four-year term by the New York State Board of Regents, confirming its continued operation through that renewal window and signaling sustained authorization.

The school's test results sit in the bottom quartile relative to districts across Bronx County, a meaningful gap that a parent should look into directly with the school. Understanding the school's supports for students working toward proficiency, the composition of its incoming sixth grade cohort, and the school's trajectory on these metrics would matter before enrollment. The early college pathway and Regents credit opportunity reflect deliberate academic design and may align with some families' priorities, but the current state test results are a real constraint that warrants conversation with school leadership about how they are working to improve student outcomes.

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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	89	44.0%
Science	88	22.0%
Social Studies	66	5.0%

Math

Grade 623%

School 23% · district not reported

▼ 22 pts below state median · ▼ 17 pts below county median

Grade 740%

School 40% · district not reported

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

Grade 80%

School 0% · district not reported

▼ 37 pts below state median · ▼ 37 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 634%

School 34% · district not reported

▼ 11 pts below state median · ▼ 6 pts below county median

Grade 745%

School 45% · district not reported

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

Grade 828%

School 28% · district not reported

▼ 20 pts below state median · ▼ 21 pts below county median

Science

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

Mathematics

Grade 8Lower-income6%Higher-income13%6 pp gap