A Message from InsideSchools: Our team relies on data from City systems and access to public schools, all of which were disrupted during Covid-19. As we emerge from the pandemic, we continue to provide the most up-to-date data available and ask that you share your insights in the Comments section. Got a question? Ask us over on InsideSchools+. Thank you.

Innovation Charter High School

Grades: 9-12

Our Insights

What’s Special

Hands on learning and field trips

The Downside

Discipline problems, below average graduation rate

At Renaissance Charter High School for Innovation, teachers help teens develop year-long projects they are passionate about and take them out and about in the city, exposing them to art, history, politics and ecology.   

At some charter schools kids wear uniforms, pass silently in the halls, and spend much of the day seated at their desks. At Innovation there are no bells, no uniforms and no hallway passes. 

Modeled after the popular K-12 Renaissance Charter School in Queens, Innovation encourages students to experiment and learn by doing. Students may study chemistry using Legos or create an educational video.

The results of school surveys are mixed: most students feel safe in school and say the environment is supportive, but teachers complain of a lack of discipline and order. The suspension rate is almost four times the citywide average and teachers come and go more often than at other city schools, according to state data. The graduation rate is below the citywide average. 

On the positive side, Renaissance Innovation offers a Software Engineering Program (SEP), a four-year computer science sequence with classes in programming, computer application design, and game building, culminating in an Advanced Placement course. The school also offers culinary arts.

Twice a year, regular classes are suspended for weeklong enrichment projects and field trips based on themes like fashion, democracy, urban ecology or journalism. A group called "learning English through social justice" volunteers in a soup kitchen; an engineering group creates Rube Goldberg-like machines and soda-powered rockets.

This rare stand-alone charter high school has some incoming students with skills as low as 4th or 5th grade level. More than one-third of the population has disabilities. All academic classes have two teachers, one of whom is trained to teach special education. 

The school opened in 2010 in a building occupied by Manhattan East, a middle school, and Success Academy Harlem 3 serving grades K-4.

Admissions: Lottery with priority to District 4 families. (Lydie Raschka, web reports, January 2019)

 

 

School Stats

Academics

School
Citywide
How many students graduate in 4 years?
 
81%
How many students with disabilities graduate in 4 years?
 
72%
How many English language learners graduate in 4 years?
 
80%
Average daily attendance
 
75%
How many students miss 18 or more days of school?
 
59%
How many parents of students with disabilities say this school offers enough activities and services for their children's needs?
 
100%
How many parents of students with disabilities say this school works to achive the goals of their students' IEPs?
 
100%
From the 2020-21 School Quality Guide and 2020-21 NYC School Survey

Students

420
Number of students
624 Citywide Average

Race/Ethnicity


School
Citywide
Low-income students
 
88%
Students with disabilities
 
34%
Multilingual learners
 
10%
From the 2020-21 Demographic Snapshot

Safety & Vibe

School
Citywide
How many students were suspended?
 
0%
How many students say they feel safe in the hallways, bathrooms and locker rooms?
 
93%
How many students think bullying happens most or all of the time at this school?
 
19%
How many students say that some are bullied at their school because of their gender or sexual orientation?
 
11%
From the 2020-21 NYC School Survey and 2019-20 NY State Report Card

Faculty & Staff

School
Citywide
How many teachers say the principal is an effective manager?
 
85%
7.0
Years of principal experience at this school
7 Citywide Average

Teachers’ Race/Ethnicity


How many teachers have 3 or more years of experience teaching?
 
87%
From the 2020-21 NYC School Survey, 2020-21 School Quality Guide, 2019-20 NY State Report Card, 2021 Guidance Counselor Report and this school's most recent Quality Review Report

College Readiness

School
Citywide
How many students graduate with test scores high enough to enroll at CUNY without remedial help?
 
37%
How many students take a college-level course or earn a professional certificate?
 
50%
From the 2020-21 School Quality Guide
From the 2020-21 FAFSA data released by Federal Student Aid, brought you by
For more information about our data sources, see About Our Data · More DOE statistics for this school

Contact & Location

Location

410 East 100 Street
Manhattan NY 10029

Trains: 6 Line to 103rd St; Q Line to 96th St

Buses: M15, M15-SBS, M96, M101, M102, M103


Contact

Principal: Terence Joseph/Stephen Falla Riff

Website

Other Details

Shared campus? Yes

This school shares the building with MS 224 and Success Academy Harlem 3 Charter

Uniforms required? No
Metal detectors? No

You may also like …

East Harlem Scholars Academy Charter High School

E. 104th Street
Manhattan, NY 10029

DREAM Charter High School

439 East 115th Street
New York, NY 10029

Comments

  • Is this your school? Please post any news, updates, events, changes, or other information!
  • We welcome questions, open discussions, and disagreements but comments with personal attacks, rude language, or those with seemingly malicious intent will be deleted.
  • Very long comments, those that contain links, or repeat comments may be blocked by our spam filter.
  • Problems? email us at [email protected].
  • Users must comply with our Terms of Use.

×