DreamYard Preparatory School in the Bronx offers a distinctive high school experience (grades 9-12) integrating rigorous academics with a strong emphasis on the arts, including visual art, dance, vocal music, and theater electives. The school is known for its welcoming and inclusive community, fostering a family-like atmosphere where diversity is celebrated. It uses Restorative Justice practices and advisory programs to cultivate a caring and safe environment, with students reporting high satisfaction in inclusivity and mental health support. As a FutureReadyNYC school, it provides career exploration and work-based learning in Teaching & Education, alongside robust college and career support, including AP courses and CUNY College Now.
The school's 91.0% four-year graduation rate is slightly above the citywide median, and 64.5% of graduates enroll in college, near the citywide median. However, Regents pass rates, particularly in mathematics and some sciences, are a notable concern, falling significantly below district and state averages. While parents and students praise the supportive teachers and strong sense of community, some past students have expressed a desire for more advanced academic challenges. Concerns have also been raised regarding school safety and cleanliness.
Graduation, test scores, and what happens after senior year.
4-year graduation rate
91%
Enrolled in college within 6 months
65%
College & career ready
Community & climate
Demographics, attendance, school survey results, and DOE quality ratings.
Quality signals
FacultyExcellentAI-estimated
InstructionGood
Safety & climateGood
Family tiesExcellent
DOE quality-rating labels are skewed across the system; read them relative to the citywide distribution in our .
Operational health
Attendance
Admissions
Seats, applicants, and admissions method from the most recent cycle. Where the school enrolls separate tracks (general ed, students with disabilities, specialized education), each track is shown on its own row, with its priority order beneath it.
DreamYard Preparatory School (Y21A)
Program code Y21A · Cycle 2024-2025
Ed OptAthleticsDanceInstrumental musicTheaterVisual arts
45 applicants · 72 seats last year; every priority group with applicants received offers.
What this school has to spend, and what it spends it on. Spending is not a measure of quality. Schools serving more students with higher needs receive more money.
Arts Sharing After School Arts Programming: Dance, Music, Theater Production, ENL/Literacy Support, Arts & Craft, Anime/Manga Club, Music Production,Gender Sexuality Alliance (GSA), Young Men's Empowerment Group, Young Women's Empowerment Group
Share of graduates by destination within 6 months. “Not enrolled” covers graduates not in a tracked postsecondary program (work, military, or unreported).
College entrance exams
SAT Math395
SAT Reading & Writing406
Average score among this school’s test-takers. Few NYC schools report the ACT, so those rows appear only where published.
Regents pass rates
Algebra I25%
Algebra II23%
Earth & Space Sciences63%
English60%
Geometry34%
Global History61%
Living Environment26%
U.S. History38%
Share of students who took each Regents exam this year and scored 65 or higher. Exams with too few test-takers to report are omitted. Bars compare against NYC high schools reporting the same exam.
These figures describe recent graduating classes, not a guarantee for any student. College enrollment counts any postsecondary program within 6 months of graduation, and “college & career ready” is the DOE’s 4-year readiness measure.
Teacher experience and certification from the NYSED School Report Card (2024–25); students per teacher = enrollment ÷ reported teachers. Fewer than 4 years counts as inexperienced.
Last year’s published figures. Schools make more offers than seats because not everyone enrolls, so offers can exceed seats. Counts under 10 are suppressed (shown as “<10”).