Our Insights
What’s Special
Curriculum using law to engage students
The Downside
No chemistry or physics
The Urban Assembly School for Law and Justice is located in a gleamingly renovated courthouse among many court buildings near the Brooklyn Bridge. The school’s embrace of its theme, though, goes far beyond its location.
SLJ, as it is called, is the product of a partnership with a leading Manhattan law firm, a relationship which continues to this day, along with affiliations with other law organizations. The humanities-focused curriculum includes classes such as forensic science, constitutional law, and participation in government. The school says it is not trying to put all its students on a path to a legal career but, according to its website, uses legal issues to develop basic skills and “a love of analytical thinking.”
The approach seems to be successful. Although SLJ does not screen applicants on the basis of their academic records and takes a range of academic levels, attendance, graduation rates and preparedness for college all are well above average. Almost all students are accepted to college, and most attend, with more than two-thirds going on to a four-year school, according to the school’s comprehensive educational plan.
SLJ stresses literacy in the 9th grade with a double period of English and, according to its web site, has small classes. It offers a number of AP classes, with two – U.S. history and psychology – geared toward 10th and 11th graders. Students may take visual arts or theater.
Support from the Adams Street Foundation allows the school to have a full-time enrichment program manager. It provides an array of extracurricular activities to students, and the partnership allows many children to attend college programs or travel abroad over the summer. In 2017, seven SLJ students worked with CBS News to produce taped news reports on cyberbullying and sex education for LGBTQ+ youth. SLJ was featured in the 2014 book, Restoring Opportunity: The Crisis of Inequality and the Challenge for American Education. (Gail Robinson, school and DOE reports, October 2018)
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School Stats
Academics
Students
Race/Ethnicity
Safety & Vibe
Faculty & Staff
Advanced Courses
Calculus
Computer Science
Physics
Advanced Foreign Language
Not offered in 2021-21AP/IB Arts, English, History or Social Science
AP/IB Math or Science
Music
College Readiness
Programs & Admissions
From the 2024 High School DirectoryUrban Assembly School for Law and Justice (K08X)
Program Description:
Law and justice are the lenses through which subject matter is viewed and academic skills are developed. Our theme reflects our conviction that educating is in itself an act of social justice, and that learning can be amplified when done through the lens of the law.
Offerings
From the 2024 High School DirectoryAdvanced Courses
Algebra II (Advanced Math), AP English Language and Composition, AP Environmental Science, AP Microeconomics, AP Psychology, AP Seminar, AP United States History, Calculus (Advanced Math)
Boys PSAL teams
Basketball, Soccer
Girls PSAL teams
Basketball, Soccer, Volleyball
Read about admissions, academics, and more at this school on NYCDOE’s MySchools
Contact & Location
Location
283 Adams Street
Brooklyn
NY
11201
Trains: , , , , to Borough Hall; , , to Jay St - Borough Hall; , to DeKalb Av; to Hoyt & Schermerhorn; , to High St
Buses: B103, B25, B26, B38, B41, B45, B52, B54, B57, B61, B62, B63, B65, B67, B69
Contact
Other Details
This school shares the Adams Street Educational Campus with one other school
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