Summary:
New Directions Secondary School is a public high school located in the Bronx, New York, serving grades 9-12 with a small student population of 142 as of the 2022-2023 school year. The student body is predominantly Hispanic (64.79%) and African American (30.99%), with small percentages of other racial/ethnic groups.
Despite its small size, New Directions Secondary School has consistently ranked among the lowest-performing high schools in New York state, with a 0-star rating from SchoolDigger. The school struggles with extremely low graduation rates (42.8%), high dropout rates (35.7%), and alarmingly high chronic absenteeism (67.9%). On Regents exams, the school's performance is significantly below state and district averages across all subject areas, with only 17.14% of students proficient or better in Algebra I compared to 64.62% statewide and 46.38% in the district. The school also faces challenges in supporting the academic achievement of various student subgroups, ranking in the bottom 10-15% of New York high schools for female, male, Hispanic, English Language Learner, Special Education, and low-socioeconomic status students.
Interestingly, the nearby schools in the same district, such as Bronx Collegiate Academy, Dreamyard Preparatory School, and Claremont International High School, generally outperform New Directions Secondary School on key metrics. Despite the school's poor performance, it has a relatively high per-student spending of $27,781 in the 2022-2023 school year, which is higher than the state average, suggesting that the school's challenges may not be solely due to a lack of funding or resources. The school's predominantly low-income and minority student population (98.59% qualify for free or reduced-price lunch) highlights the need for targeted support and interventions to address the unique challenges faced by this student population.
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