Nelson Mandela High School

Opened in 2014, Nelson Mandela School for Social Justice is one of four city high schools founded with grants from the Open Society Foundations to help improve college and career-readiness rates for black and Latino students, particularly males.

The school, housed in the Boys and Girls High School building, aims not only to prepare students academically, but also to form adults who are “committed to social justice and improving their communities and this nation,” according to the school website.

Like three other schools in the Epic network, Nelson Mandela works to give students a voice and to ensure their education “honors and embraces” their cultures and community, according to the school’s website.

Most students enter with poor academic skills and attendance is poor. Nonetheless, more than three-quarters of the first class graduated on time.

The other Epic New York City schools are: Epic High School North and Epic High School South, both in Queens, and South Bronx Community Charter School.

Admissions: The school has had room for all who applied in recent years. (Clara Hemphill, DOE stats, December 2018)