New Millennium Bronx Academy of the Arts

New Millennium Business Academy is a safe and orderly middle school with an effective leader who has energized his staff, bought laptops for all students, and hired two full-time social workers, according to school surveys, news reports and the annual plan. 

The school, down the street from neat residential brick buildings on Teller Avenue, has its own black box theater where students create set designs, write their own plays, and perform them. Other electives include dance, architecture and ceramics. 

Although test scores and attendance remain low, safety, order and the quality of teaching have improved dramatically under the leadership of Principal Dorald Bastian. The school is a happier place and enrollment is beginning to grow.

When Bastian first arrived in 2006, students used to punch out glass panels in classroom doors and set fire to bulletin boards, according to The New York Times.  

Bastian spent his first several years letting go of ineffective teachers and worked to gain the trust of more promising teachers. He offered teachers more training and gave strong teachers leadership positions within the school. Teachers are overwhelming in support of his leadership, school surveys show. 

Teachers are setting much higher goals for writing than in the past. Students must write at least 25 papers, including science lab reports, research papers, essays, and math response papers, according to the Comprehensive Educational Plan (CEP). Millennium now offers honors classes in reading and math after school and on Saturday. 

Many students are learning English, and roughly 20 percent of the student population lives in temporary housing, according to the CEP. The school has an onsite health clinic that offers vaccinations and visual, dental and mental health services.

Millennium shares a building with Success Academy Bronx 3 Charter Middle and Upper School. All students must pass through metal detectors.

Admissions: Neighborhood school, also open Bronx-wide, priority to districts 9 and 10. (Lydie Raschka, web reports, May 2019)