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Our Insights

What’s Special

Individual attention

The Downside

Teacher turnover

 

Founded in 2010, Metropolitan Lighthouse Charter School in Highbridge, a few blocks from Yankee Stadium, offers a longer-than-usual school year and day and a college-preparatory program rich in the arts. It has been expanding to serve students in kindergarten through 12th grade.

The school is one of two in New York operated by Lighthouse Academies, a charter network that also runs schools in Arkansas and Indiana. (The other is Bronx Lighthouse Charter School, a k-12 school in Longwood.)  High school students can choose a business track offering coursework in marketing, management, finance, and economics projects and problems, or a technology track, covering fundamentals of computer usage and programming with an opportunity to take the Advanced Placement test in computer science.

 A small school with only about 50 students per grade, Metropolitan Lighthouse seeks to provide all children with individual attention in classes of 20 to 24 students. To create a sense of community, students belong to a house with members spanning grade levels. On its website, the school says it believes education should “be organized around learning and personal development, not around compliance and discipline,” and that students who fall short of standards deserve second chances.

 Test scores are below average, particularly for students with special needs. In a Department of Education survey, teachers gave the school low marks for maintaining order and discipline and saw bullying as a problem. The school has a very high teacher turnover rate, according to the state Education Department.

Metropolitan moved to its current facility in 2014. The building was obtained with support from former tennis star Andre Agassi who has built facilities for a number of charter schools around the country.

(Gail Robinson, school website and other web reports, June 2020)

 

 

 

 

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School Stats

Citywide Average Key
This school is Better Near Worse than the citywide average
Citywide Average Key
This school is Better Near Worse than the citywide average

Is this school safe and well-run?

From 2022-2023 NYC School Survey

How many students say they feel safe in the hallways, bathrooms and locker rooms?
78%
83% Citywide Average
How many students think bullying happens most or all of the time at this school?
52%
51% Citywide Average
How many teachers say the principal is an effective manager?
73%
80% Citywide Average
How many teachers say they would recommend this school to other families?
67%
0% Citywide Average

From the 2019-20 NY State Report Card

How many students were suspended?
1%
1% Citywide Average

From 2023 End-of-year Attendance and Chronic Absenteeism Report

How many teachers have 3 or more years of experience teaching?
87%
84% Citywide Average
Years of principal experience at this school
6.0

How do students perform academically?

From the New York State 2022-2023 Assessment Database

How many elementary school students scored 3-4 on the state math exam?
64%
61% Citywide Average
How many elementary school students scored 3-4 on the state reading exam?
49%
58% Citywide Average
How many middle school students scored 3-4 on the state math exam?
57%
62% Citywide Average
How many middle school students scored 3-4 on the state reading exam?
55%
63% Citywide Average

From 2023 End-of-year Attendance and Chronic Absenteeism Report

How many 8th-graders earn high school credit?
90%
76% Citywide Average
How many students graduate in 4 years?
87%
91% Citywide Average

Who does this school serve?

From the 2022-23 Demographic Snapshot

Enrollment
680
Asian
1%
Black
25%
Hispanic
71%
White
1%
Other
1%
Free or reduced priced lunch
100%
Students with disabilities
17%
English language learners
16%

How does this school serve special populations?

From 2023 End-of-year Attendance and Chronic Absenteeism Report

How many students with disabilities graduate in 4 years?
77%
82% Citywide Average

From the New York State 2022-2023 Assessment Database

How many students with disabilities scored 3-4 on the state math exam?
33%
23% Citywide Average
How many students with disabilities scored 3-4 on the state reading exam?
13%
22% Citywide Average
How many English language learners scored 3-4 on the state math exam?
40%
15% Citywide Average
How many English language learners scored 3-4 on the state reading exam?
17%
14% Citywide Average
For more information about our data sources, see About Our Data · More DOE statistics for this school

Contact & Location

Location

180 West 165th Street
Bronx NY 10452

Trains: 4 Line to 167th St

Buses: Bx13, Bx35


Contact

Principal: Melissa Alston

Website

Other Details

Shared campus? No

This school is in its own building.

Uniforms required? No
Metal detectors? No

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