The top reported proficiency rate is 62% in Math. The lowest is 56% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Brilla Caritas Charter School
Brilla Caritas Charter School sits on Andrews Avenue in the University Heights section of the Bronx, a neighborhood of dense apartment corridors, commercial avenues, and the kind of layered street life the borough is known for. The school opened in 2020 with Kindergarten only and has grown steadily, reaching its full elementary span by 2024. It now serves Kindergarten through fourth grade.
The student body is predominantly Hispanic, with a smaller share of Black students and very few students from other racial backgrounds. Nearly all students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which reflects the economic character of University Heights more broadly. Data on English learner rates and students with IEPs was not available in what was provided, so families of students with disabilities or English learners may want to ask the school directly about how those needs are supported.
On the New York State assessments in the most recent reported year, Brilla Caritas performed meaningfully above what the comparison data shows is typical among schools in Bronx County. Relative to districts in Bronx County, the school's combined proficiency index across math and ELA places it in the top quartile of the comparison set. In math, third graders and fourth graders both passed at rates well above half, with third grade results noticeably stronger than fourth. In ELA, both tested grades also cleared the majority threshold, with third and fourth grade performing at roughly similar levels. Those are real results for a school whose students come largely from low-income households, and they represent a genuine strength by any honest reading of the data.
Brilla Caritas is part of the broader Brilla network, which is publicly reported to be Catholic-values-influenced and virtues-based in its approach, though it operates as a public charter school. The network recently overhauled its core curriculum: phonics instruction now follows a science-of-reading framework with the Foundations program in the lower grades and Wilson Reading above that, while math shifted to a Eureka Math base with what the school describes as classical content. These are substantive changes to how foundational skills are taught, and families entering now will experience those new materials rather than what earlier cohorts had.
The school is in the middle of a significant expansion. Publicly reported information indicates that fifth grade was added in fall 2025, with the school planned to grow to a full K-8 program by the end of its current charter term. For families, that means a child enrolling in Kindergarten today could, if the expansion proceeds as planned, remain at Brilla Caritas straight through eighth grade without needing to search for a separate middle school. Beyond Brilla Caritas, the network has a defined high school connection through Vertex Partnership Academies, a public charter school in the Soundview section of the Bronx that operates as an International Baccalaureate program and is designed specifically for Brilla and Public Prep families. A family entering Brilla Caritas today is, in effect, looking at a potential K-12 pathway within a single affiliated network.
The school does not offer AP courses, dual-enrollment, or career pathways, and no graduation rate applies because it serves only early elementary grades. Multi-year trend data was not available, so it is not possible from this data to say whether proficiency has been rising, falling, or holding steady.
The surrounding neighborhood in the Bronx is walkable and well-served by transit. Housing costs near the school are well below both the state median and the national median, and rents in the area have been rising at a notable pace recently. The Bronx overall is in an active development period, with substantial affordable housing construction underway across multiple neighborhoods, and the borough's transit network connects University Heights to the rest of the city by both subway and bus.
For a family in the Bronx looking for a structured, academically oriented elementary school with above-average test results, a clear middle school extension on the horizon, and a defined high school option in the network, Brilla Caritas presents a coherent picture. The virtues-based and Catholic-influenced character of the Brilla network is a plain characteristic some families will find appealing and others will not, and it is worth factoring into a decision alongside the academic data.
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