J.H.S. 022 Jordan L. Mott

Jordan L. Mott, MS 22, has long struggled with attendance, low test scores, discipline and order. It shares a building with Bronx Writing Academy, another struggling middle school of about the same size, and the strict, very high-performing Success Academy Bronx 2 Charter, which serves grades 5 – 8. 

MS 22 is located in Concourse Village, one of the poorest communities in the country, with a high unemployment rate. The school has a partnership with Sheltering Arms Children and Family Services, which provide extra support for students. It offers free after school programs, and summer and Saturday classes. 

The school was in the spotlight for several years under the leadership of Shimon Waronker, who took the helm in 2004 when MS 22 was listed as one of the most dangerous schools in the city. A member of the Chabad-Lubavitch sect of Hasidic Judaism, Waronker was deemed an odd fit for the largely Hispanic school community.

Waronker gained the trust of parents, teachers and students. He arranged field trips for students, added social workers and guidance counselors, and broke the school into eight small academies so teachers could get to know their students better. Attendance and safety improved and his work was praised in the New York Times. Waronker left MS 22 in 2008 and went on to found The New American Academy in Flatbush, Brooklyn, in 2010. 

Since then, MS 22 has had two principals. Enrollment has declined from around about 700 students in 2010 to 420 in 2019. 

Admissions: Open.