Academy for Scholarship and Entrepreneurship: A College Board School

The Academy for Scholarship and Entrepreneurship offers students the chance to create and run their own simulated business through the Virtual Enterprise program. Teachers say longtime principal Zenobia White is an effective leader, and most recommend the school to parents, according to school surveys.

However, the school faces many challenges. Attendance is poor and the graduation rate is well below the citywide average. One-third of students who responded to the survey said they don’t feel safe in hallways, bathrooms and locker rooms.

Founded as a 6-12 school in the South Bronx in 2005 by the College Board (which administers the SATs), the school moved in 2008 to an airy, spacious new building, shared with New World High School and the Bronxwood Preparatory Academy, in the northern part of the Bronx. The Department of Education decided in 2012 to phase out the middle school grades, hoping to improve high school achievement.

ADMISSIONS: Educational option formula, designed to ensure a mix of low-, average- and high-performing students. (Clara Hemphill, DOE statistics, June 2018)