Bronx Alliance Middle School

Bronx Alliance Middle School has a band and offers music theory and visual arts, according to the school website. Opened in 2013, it is one of three small middle schools that replaced the John Philip Sousa Middle School, which closed due to poor performance in 2015. 

The school has struggled to maintain a positive and safe school culture and good attendance ,but is beginning to improve. Students are randomly assigned to one of three small “houses” within the school to build a better sense of community. Each house is named after a famous social justice leader. 

Teens meet in small advisory groups with an adult every day. They use Restorative Justice practices, a program to help them talk through conflicts before they escalate. Two full-time social workers provide individual or group counseling and art therapy, according to a city report called the Quality Review.

Bronx Alliance faces challenges; many students are already a year or more behind in reading and math when they arrive in 6th grade. Teachers follow the Middle School Quality Initiative, a city program designed to ensure all students learn to read on or above grade level by the time they enter high school. Teachers work with a coach and students do intensive work to boost their academic vocabulary in all classes. They practice debate using the words they've learned.  

To improve attendance, staff members are assigned to individual students and make phone calls home or meet with the family to make a plan. Additionally, students learn to keep track of their own attendance, according to the Quality Review. 

The school building is located in the northeast section of the Bronx, across from Baychester Houses, and Edenwald Houses, the largest public housing development in the Bronx. 

Admissions: Neighborhood school. (Lydie Raschka, web reports, July 2019)