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Our Insights

What’s Special

Top-notch instruction and lots of supports for all kids; 11th-graders travel abroad

The Downside

Located far from the nearest subway stop

Bronx Center for Science and Mathematics is one of the top-performing high schools in the Bronx. The school admits a broad range of students—from struggling to high achievers—yet its graduation, college attendance and college readiness rates are on par with the city's most competitive schools.

Key to Bronx Center's success is an impressive range of student supports and partnerships with outside organizations. For instance, the elite private school, Horace Mann, shares its math and science curriculum with teachers and also provides space for Bronx Center's graduation ceremony.

The school hits a lot of high marks. Teacher satisfaction is high, as is their regard for longtime principal Edward Tom, who designed and founded the school in 2004. Students feel safe at school and virtually no one gets suspended.

For a small school, Bronx Center does an unusually good job of meeting the needs of a diverse community of learners. Top students are challenged plenty. By their senior year they spend up to eight periods each week in each of their Advanced Placement (AP) courses. Struggling students may spend three or four semesters, rather than the typical two, studying algebra, geometry or algebra 2. To ensure everyone studies physics, stronger students take Regents-level physics, which requires advanced math skills, while others take a conceptual physics course, which relies less on computational skills. Regardless of their pace of learning, all students must take four years of math and science.

AP classes are offered in several subjects and students can earn college credits by taking free courses at Lehman College.

Teaching styles vary by subject and grade. In some lower-grade classes, teachers deliver very structured lessons and keep close tabs on students' work throughout the period. One teacher gives students color-coded disks that they raise at the end of a task, or upon the teacher's request, in order to convey how well they understood the concept or skill taught: "Got it," "kind of get it," or "completely lost."

In some English and history classes, teachers emphasize a type of class-wide discussion called “Harkness” circles, where students take the lead addressing each other with questions and responses while the teacher mainly listens. And, in some math classes, teachers use the flipped classroom method: Students are expected to take the first stab at learning a skill or topic at home by watching a video, reading up on it and taking notes. Classroom time is then devoted to students doing lots of practice problems while the teacher monitors and gives mini-lessons tailored to their needs.

There are a range of elective courses such as drama, musical theater, film, choir, engineering, computer coding and robotic. Through a partnership with the Open Future Institute, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping students build life skills such as confidence and self-awareness, upper-grade students may take semester-long courses focused on answering essential questions such as, “how well do you know who you are?”

Grant-funded summer programs run by the school help students shore up skills and prepare for the rigors of the upcoming grade. Before starting high school, rising 9th-graders spend four weeks working on English and math skills as well as bonding with their peers through sports and other group activities. Another summer program for rising 12th-graders focuses on college admissions prep.

With support from several organizations, each year many 11th-graders have the opportunity to travel abroad over the summer or during Spring break to places such as Malawi, Ecuador, the Dominican Republic and Denmark.

Spanish is the only foreign language taught.

Bronx Center shares a building with Eximius College Preparatory Academy. Students from both schools may participate in building-wide PSAL sports teams and activities such as school plays.

There is a very active college office led by a fulltime college counselor. Many graduates attend CUNY and SUNY schools, but each year some students attend private colleges on scholarships. The school has a particularly strong record of students earning POSSE scholarships.

SPECIAL EDUCATION: There is a range of services and supports, including ICT (integrated co-teaching) in all subjects and self-contained classes in select subjects. The special education teachers and support staff provide academic help to students before and after school each day. (Laura Zingmond, web reports and interview, November 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?
 
92%
How many students with disabilities graduate in 4 years?
 
78%
How many English language learners graduate in 4 years?
 
92%
Average daily attendance
 
85%
How many students miss 18 or more days of school?
 
52%
How many parents of students with disabilities say this school offers enough activities and services for their children's needs?
 
78%
How many parents of students with disabilities say this school works to achieve the goals of their students' IEPs?
 
100%
From the 2021-22 School Quality Guide and 2020-21 NYC School Survey

Students

388
Number of students
Citywide Average is 599

Race/Ethnicity


School
Citywide
Low-income students
 
89%
Students with disabilities
 
22%
Multilingual learners
 
7%
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?
 
87%
How many students think bullying happens most or all of the time at this school?
 
39%
How many students say that some are bullied at their school because of their gender or sexual orientation?
 
27%
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?
 
69%
1.4
Years of principal experience at this school
Citywide Average is 7
147
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?
 
83%
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

 
5%

Computer Science

 
4%

Physics

 
21%

Advanced Foreign Language

Not offered in 2019-20

AP/IB Arts, English, History or Social Science

 
16%

AP/IB Math or Science

 
14%

Music

 
17%
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?
 
81%
How many students take a college-level course or earn a professional certificate?
 
72%
How many students who have graduated from this high school stay in college for at least 3 semesters?
 
75%
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?
 
79%
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

Bronx Center for Science and Mathematics (X05R)

Admissions Method: Ed. Opt.

Offerings

From the 2024 High School Directory

Language Courses

Spanish

Advanced Courses

Algebra II (Advanced Math), AP Calculus AB, AP Computer Science Principles, AP English Literature and Composition, AP Environmental Science, AP Spanish Language and Culture, 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, Soccer

Girls PSAL teams

Badminton, Basketball, Soccer, Softball, Volleyball

Coed PSAL teams

Stunt

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

NYC Department of Education: MySchools

Contact & Location

Location

1363 Fulton Avenue
Bronx NY 10456

Buses: Bx11, Bx15, Bx17, Bx21, Bx35, Bx41, Bx41-SBS


Contact

Principal: Young Kim

Parent Coordinator: Miriam Flecha

Website

Other Details

Shared campus? Yes

This school shares a building with Eximius College Prep

Uniforms required? No
Metal detectors? No

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