NYC Community School District 5 · Central Harlem
Building schools where students are academically challenged, emotionally grounded, culturally affirmed, and prepared to lead in Harlem and the world.
Welcome to the MECCA
Our Vision
To reimagine the Renaissance.
Our Mission
We will build cohesion among our great schools through strong instructional practices and a holistic approach to learning.
These five overarching principles relate to the areas of focus necessary for long-lasting success and change within the school communities housed in the district. The MECCA ideology recalls the 1920s and 1930s, when Harlem flourished in dance, art, fashion, literature, theater, and politics.
Priority 01
Relationships, Restoration & Healing
Priority 02
Leadership & Instructional Best Practices
Priority 03
Growing Skills & Abilities Across Stakeholders
Priority 04
Co-creation, Co-liberation, Equity & Inclusivity
Priority 05
Progress-Monitoring & Data-Driven Decision-Making
Six District Initiatives
Six major initiatives carry the Renaissance into classrooms across literacy, mathematics, culture, identity, student support, and long-term pathways.
Developing strong readers, powerful writers, and confident communicators with cultural relevance at the core.
Learn more →Building deep mathematical understanding, reasoning, and problem-solving skills for real-world impact.
Learn more →Cultivating emotional intelligence, restoration, and leadership to support whole-child well-being and success.
Learn more →Affirming identity, history, and culture while building critical thinkers and change makers.
Learn more →Providing integrated academic, behavioral, social-emotional, and attendance supports for every student.
Learn more →Creating clear pathways from early childhood through middle school and beyond.
Learn more →Improved academic growth across literacy and math.
CRASEL expanding to support student well-being and leadership.
Investing in great leaders, great teachers, and great learning environments.
Deepening Harlem partnerships that expand opportunity for every child.
Enrollment & Admissions
Explore school options and grade-level pathways from early childhood through middle school across Community School District 5.
The Student Story Quilt
Inspired by Harlem's own Faith Ringgold — who turned cloth into narrative — our students piece their own Harlem into paint, fabric, and voice.
“Letter From Birmingham City Jail” and the story quilts of Faith Ringgold turn cloth into testimony.
Community Spotlight
February 11 — an evening of intergenerational art-making, storytelling, and community inspired by Faith Ringgold's “Letter From Birmingham City Jail,” hosted by the Sugar Hill Children's Museum.
February 13 — student RULER leaders from across the district showcased the projects they've designed to strengthen emotional intelligence, community, and student voice in their schools.
Read the full story
RULER
Emotional intelligence, in partnership with Yale.
We are not just educating students. We are cultivating leaders, thinkers, and change makers rooted in Harlem and ready for the world.
Office of the Superintendent · Community School District 5
On the calendar
Partners in the work
The Renaissance is a collective work. These institutions piece the District 5 quilt alongside our students and families.
