Success Academy Charter School - Union Square
Grades K-12 · 40 IRVING PLACE · Manhattan
Kaleigh Maines/Caitlin Marcoux, Principal · 646-790-2161
About
Success Academy Union Square is a K-8 charter school in Manhattan known for its exceptionally strong academic performance, with ELA and Math proficiency rates well above citywide medians. The school emphasizes a rigorous, fast-paced curriculum that integrates daily science, chess, and arts into the school day. Parents often praise the dedicated and responsive teachers, as well as the school's ability to foster significant academic growth in students. The school maintains a very low suspension rate, according to official data. However, some parents describe a demanding academic environment with a heavy homework load and a strong focus on standardized testing, particularly in grades 3 and 4. There are also mentions of a structured, sometimes "militaristic" approach to classroom management, which has drawn mixed reactions. The school serves a large and diverse student body.
Academics
State test proficiency rates and acceleration.
ELA proficiency
94%
Math proficiency
96%
Proficiency rates are from the Grade 3–8 NYS state test (school-level).
Attendance rate
Community & climate
Demographics, attendance, school survey results, and DOE quality ratings.
Quality signals
Overall positive % is averaged across every Pos/Neg survey question per respondent group (school year 2023-2024). Survey topics are the DOE’s framework measures (each the average favorable response across its questions; expand a topic to see them and the citywide average); the dimension scores themselves are no longer in the public data file.[3]
Operational health
Attendance
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Financials
[8]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.
Charter schools manage their own budgets rather than receiving a school allocation from the DOE, so the staffing and supplies breakdown the DOE publishes for district schools is not published for this school.
Spending
Total spend
$17.2MStudents: 968
Location & commute
Where the school is and how to get there.