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Our Insights

What’s Special

Traditional college prep curriculum and strong college office

The Downside

Few openings for out-of-district students, tiny gym

Eleanor Roosevelt High School (ELRO for short) has a motivated student body, a traditional college-prep curriculum and an excellent record of college admissions. Wide hallways, polished floors, and spotless modern bathrooms make the former Sotheby's warehouse one of the most pleasant school buildings in the city—even though the cafeteria and gym are small.

In a city where lots of schools have themes and specialties, Eleanor Roosevelt stands out for its gimmick-free curriculum and no-nonsense approach to teaching. Although class discussion and some project work are encouraged, many rooms have desks in rows and lessons led by the teacher standing at the front of the class. All students take four years of college-prep math, science, English, history, and a foreign language; many take multiple advanced placements exams.

The English curriculum focuses on the classics: 9th graders read The Epic of Gilgamesh, "Oedipus the King," Beowulf and "Macbeth"; 10th-graders read Dantes Inferno (while they study the Italian Renaissance in history) and A Tale of Two Cities by Dickens (while they study the French Revolution); 11th-graders read The Scarlet Letter (while they study U.S. history.) All 9th-graders take geometry and a special class called foundations of math, designed to shore up algebra skills. Most seniors take calculus. The Spanish classes we saw were taught entirely in Spanish.

There is not a lot of choice, said Principal Dimitri Saliani. "We expect you to take chemistry. We expect you to take physics." Sometimes, there is a choice between hard or harder, he said. For example, 10th-graders may choose between Regents-prep global history or advanced placement world history.

That said, there are a number of electives, particularly in technology. Students may develop apps for iPhones, study robotics, use a 3-D printer, make a film, or learn computer programming. While many schools ban cellphones and block access to YouTube and Facebook, ELRO gives students access to all websites and encourages them to BYOD (bring your own device). Kids have to learn to deal with distractions, the principal says. Students may leave the building for lunch.

Teachers work hard to build a sense of community among the students and, in a school this small, everyone knows everyone. In September, entering 9th-graders attend an overnight camp to work on team-building skills. There are lots of clubs, including Model UN as well as Lego art and jazz ensemble. Students told us the homework load is heavy but not oppressive—two to three hours a night.

College: A full-time college counselor meets with all students and their parents at least twice for 40 minutes each time. Nearly all graduates go on to four-year colleges; a large proportion go to private colleges, some on full scholarship. Students have been admitted to the University of Chicago, Tufts, Carleton, Barnard, University of Michigan, Oberlin, Occidental and the Rochester Institute of Technology.

Special education: The school has several team-teaching classes, which mix children with special needs and general education students and have two teachers. Students with disabilities who are eligible for team-teaching classes need not meet the same admissions standards as other students.(Clara Hemphill, October 2014; updated 2018)

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School Stats

Citywide Average Key
This school is Better Near Worse than the citywide average

Academics

School
Citywide
How many students graduate in 4 years?
 
99%
How many students with disabilities graduate in 4 years?
 
100%
Average daily attendance
 
94%
How many students miss 18 or more days of school?
 
13%
How many parents of students with disabilities say this school offers enough activities and services for their children's needs?
 
92%
How many parents of students with disabilities say this school works to achieve the goals of their students' IEPs?
 
88%
From the 2021-22 School Quality Guide and 2020-21 NYC School Survey

Students

541
Number of students
Citywide Average is 599

Race/Ethnicity


School
Citywide
Low-income students
 
38%
Students with disabilities
 
15%
Multilingual learners
 
1%
From the 2022-23 Demographic Snapshot

Safety & Vibe

School
Citywide
How many students were suspended?
 
0%
How many students say they feel safe in the hallways, bathrooms and locker rooms?
 
94%
How many students think bullying happens most or all of the time at this school?
 
29%
How many students say that some are bullied at their school because of their gender or sexual orientation?
 
20%
From the 2020-21 NYC School Survey and 2019-20 NY State Report Card

Faculty & Staff

School
Citywide
How many teachers say the principal is an effective manager?
 
78%
14.2
Years of principal experience at this school
Citywide Average is 7
180
Number of students for each guidance counselor or social worker
Citywide Average is 157

Teachers’ Race/Ethnicity


How many teachers have 3 or more years of experience teaching?
 
94%
Are teachers effective?
From the 2020-21 NYC School Survey, 2021-22 School Quality Guide, 2019-20 Report on School-Based Staff Demographics, 2021 Guidance Counselor Report, and this school's most recent Quality Review Report

Advanced Courses

Which students have access to advanced courses at this school? Learn more

Calculus

 
20%

Computer Science

 
14%

Physics

 
34%

Advanced Foreign Language

 
27%

AP/IB Arts, English, History or Social Science

 
88%

AP/IB Math or Science

 
47%

Music

 
22%
From unpublished, anonymized data from the 2021-22 school year provided by the New York State Education Department, brought to you by

College Readiness

School
Citywide
How many students graduate with test scores high enough to enroll at CUNY without remedial help?
 
99%
How many students take a college-level course or earn a professional certificate?
 
100%
How many students who have graduated from this high school stay in college for at least 3 semesters?
 
94%
From the 2020-21 and 2021-22 School Quality Guide
How many students filled out a FAFSA form by the end of their senior year?
 
72%
From the 2022-23 FAFSA data released by Federal Student Aid, brought you by
For more information about our data sources, see About Our Data · More DOE statistics for this school

Programs & Admissions

From the 2024 High School Directory

Eleanor Roosevelt High School (M21A)

Admissions Method: Screened

Program Description:

We offer students a comprehensive liberal arts curriculum across all disciplines. Students are given the opportunity to pursue higher level courses across the humanities and STEM fields.

Offerings

From the 2024 High School Directory

Language Courses

French, Spanish

Advanced Courses

Algebra II (Advanced Math), AP Art History, AP Biology, AP Calculus AB, AP Calculus BC, AP Chemistry, AP Comparative Government and Politics, AP Computer Science Principles, AP English Language and Composition, AP English Literature and Composition, AP Macroeconomics, AP Physics 1, AP Psychology, AP Statistics, AP United States History, AP World History: Modern, Calculus (Advanced Math), Chemistry (Advanced Science), Physics (Advanced Science), World Languages (Advanced World Languages)

Boys PSAL teams

Baseball, Basketball, Outdoor Track, Soccer, Tennis

Girls PSAL teams

Basketball, Cross Country, Flag Football, Outdoor Track, Soccer, Softball, Table Tennis, Tennis, Volleyball

Coed PSAL teams

Golf

Read about admissions, academics, and more at this school on NYCDOE’s MySchools

NYC Department of Education: MySchools

Contact & Location

Location

411 East 76 Street
Manhattan NY 10021

Trains: 6 Line to 77th St

Buses: BxM1, M101, M102, M103, M15, M15-SBS, M31, M66, M72, M79-SBS, M86-SBS, M98, Q102


Contact

Principal: Dimitri Saliani

Parent Coordinator: Dimitri Saliani

Website

Other Details

Shared campus? No

This school is in its own building.

Uniforms required? No
Metal detectors? No

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