Hunter College Elementary School
Grades K-6 · 71 East 94th Street · Manhattan
hunterschools.orgAbout
Hunter College Elementary School is a highly selective, publicly-funded (tuition-free) K-6 institution in Manhattan, managed by Hunter College rather than the NYC Department of Education. It is renowned for its rigorous academic program designed for intellectually gifted students, with admission requiring a highly competitive IQ test for four-year-olds, typically seeking scores in the 99th percentile. The school is known for fostering critical thinking, independent learning, and in-depth exploration of subjects, supported by an extraordinary faculty. Parents often describe it as a very happy place that provides a well-rounded education. The curriculum is enriched with specialty programs in areas like chess, dance, modern languages, and arts, complemented by a robust, fee-based after-school program offering numerous enrichment classes. While celebrated for its academic excellence, the school has faced discussions regarding its student diversity. The school occupies a distinctive former armory building, sometimes referred to as "The Brick Prison" due to its unique architecture.
Community & climate
Demographics, attendance, school survey results, and DOE quality ratings.
Quality signals
Operational health
Attendance
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Chronic absenteeism
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Suspension rate
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Hunter admissions
This school admits at Kindergarten only, through Hunter's own two-round process.
Admission is by Hunter's own two-round assessment
- Run by Hunter College, not the DOE. The Hunter College Campus Schools are public and tuition-free, but administered and funded by Hunter College of the City University of New York (CUNY). They sit entirely outside MySchools, with their own application and their own calendar.
- Kindergarten entry only. Round 1 is an individually administered IQ test (currently the Stanford-Binet) arranged through Hunter’s approved testers; children who meet the cutoff are invited to a Round 2 on-campus group assessment. Students in good academic standing continue into Hunter College High School without sitting its entrance exam.
- Separate, parallel application. Applying to Hunter never touches your DOE main round, SHSAT, charter, or private applications. Families run it as one more independent shot, and NYC residency is required for the entire enrollment.
Because admission runs through Hunter’s own exam process, we don’t compute an admissions outlook for this school. No priority-group or applicant-pool model honestly predicts an individual student’s result here. Hunter students are also exempt from New York State tests and Regents exams, so state test scores don’t exist for this school; that is an exemption, not missing data.
Applicant analysis
How competitive each recent cycle was: applicants per seat. Not an estimate of any individual student’s chances.
Location & commute
Where the school is and how to get there.