New York City Public School · 05M318 · Pre‑K to Grade 5
Thurgood Marshall Academy Lower School
“We are the village that raises the child!” The school’s mission statement, 2025–26 Comprehensive Educational Plan
Drone video placeholder — 276 West 151 Street, Harlem
Who we are
A small Harlem school built by its neighbourhood, and still run that way
Thurgood Marshall Academy Lower School is a public school located in Harlem, New York, serving about 144 children from Pre‑K through Grade 5 in Community School District 5.
“The school’s very inception was a unique collaboration between the NYC Department of Education, New Visions for Public Schools, and Abyssinian Development Corporation with a mission directed toward student-centered cultural awareness and culturally responsive teaching.” Families and communities were facing system-wide priorities that overlooked Black and Brown children. In the school’s own words, “TMALS addressed this inequity head-on, and its mission and collaborative spirit remain the school’s lifeblood today.”
Our families “identify as Black, Brown, Caribbean, and/or African” and “also originate from diverse religious backgrounds.” English, Spanish, French and Arabic are among the languages spoken by students and families here.
“Maintaining small class sizes, increasing student opportunities for experiencing the arts, social justice, emotional intelligence, and increased self-concept are key building blocks to prepare students for excellence.”
Quoted passages above are from the school’s 2025–26 Comprehensive Educational Plan.
Suggested: children arriving at the West 151 Street entrance in the morning. Replace with the school’s own photograph and descriptive alternative text before publication.
Our 2025–26 values
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Respect
Teachers foster positive relationships with students, critical consciousness and cultural consciousness.
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Teamwork
Students learn to think critically in collaboration with their peers and teachers.
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Accountability
Teachers monitor each student’s academic progress and communicate the next steps with families throughout the year.
“TMALS models the values of RESPECT, TEAMWORK, and ACCOUNTABILITY through a diverse educational experience.” — 2025–26 vision statement.
The signature of this school
The children settle it themselves
“Students lead social-emotional and mindfulness practices daily in the classroom, and peer mediators work with students to resolve conflict which motivates students to take ownership of their actions, lives, and educational experience.” Thurgood Marshall Academy Lower School, 2025–26 Comprehensive Educational Plan
A school named for a lawyer teaches justice the way five-year-olds can hold it: two children, a disagreement, a trained classmate sitting between them, and a shared rule that everyone gets heard. That is the whole idea of this building, and it happens every day without an adult having to run it.
The practice sits inside a framework the school calls CRASEL — Culturally Responsive & Affirming Social Emotional Learning. “Teachers, students, and families will uphold the CRASEL practices to foster respectful and meaningful relationships with one another.” The routines the school lists for that work are yoga, dance, tap and meditation.
Alongside it, “our collaboration with partners at The Meeting House and Morningside has helped us to respond to these inequities by increasing opportunities for students to express themselves through play and expression.”
In the classroom, 2025–26
What a week here is made of
Teachers build curriculum maps that “include ELA, Mathematics, Social Studies, STEM, and weekly WIN sessions.” Reading is taught through HMH Into Reading, now in its second year at the school and used “with fidelity.” Mathematics uses Envisions 2024, with teachers working this year on the modified mathematical shifts for Kindergarten through Grade 5 and on “low floor and high ceiling” tasks that let every child enter the same problem.
Instruction is planned to be tiered and differentiated: whole-group and small-group work driven by beginning-, middle- and end-of-year results, with teachers meeting to read the data every other week. “Applying the culturally responsive HILL Framework to lesson planning will support school staff in understanding the significance of this inclusive approach as having a direct impact on student engagement and academic success.”
Three times a week, K–5
“TMALS will implement WIN periods 3 times a week during Period 6 for K through 5.” The Instructional Leadership Team is building a WIN plan that includes K–2 academic support.
A block of its own
“There will be a specific time/block on the schedule for Social Studies instruction for a minimum of 3 times a week” — to support “students understanding of world events and gaining a perspective of people in their community.”
What teachers work from
HMH Into Reading, Envisions 2024 for mathematics, Amplify, Passport and BERC, with shared unit-planning templates written by the school’s Culturally Responsive and Sustaining Education lead teacher.
Quoted passages are from the school’s 2025–26 Comprehensive Educational Plan.
The rhythm of our year
When to come, and what will be happening
The school plans a repeating monthly rhythm rather than a handful of one-off events, so a family can always find a door that is already open.
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Every month, second Friday
Open House
“Monthly 2nd Friday Open House sessions beginning in September.” Leadership from Thurgood Marshall Academy Middle School is also expected at future Open House sessions here.
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September
Back to School Night, and Meet the Teachers Night
Families meet teachers and learn about the activities and programs offered at the school, together with the school’s community partner SoBro and its after-school program. Bookbags and uniforms are made available for students.
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Every month, September to June
PTA meetings
“Families, faculty, and partners will join to learn about the school’s ongoing events, academic goals, and family concerns.”
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October to June
Monthly assemblies
Students prepare assemblies that celebrate the school-wide thematic units. “Families will be invited to these school-wide classroom celebrations as students support their peers.”
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From October, Grade 5
The move to middle school
“5th grade students and families are being supported in the Middle School process starting in October by the Parent Coordinator and School Guidance Counselor.”
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All year
Class Dojo
The school communicates with parents via Class Dojo about school start times, calendars and expectations.
Suggested: a monthly assembly in the auditorium, or families at a second-Friday Open House. Replace with the school’s own photograph and descriptive alternative text.
If your child is out sick. Teachers call home on the second day of an absence, and the main office calls after three consecutive days. Attendance is celebrated with dress-down days, “Thurgood dollars,” family breakfasts and other rewards.
Dates and times. Everything on this page comes from the school’s published 2025–26 plan, which describes recurring patterns rather than a dated calendar. Confirm specific dates with the school office on 212‑368‑8731 or with the NYC Public Schools calendar.
Coming to the building
276 West 151 Street
The school sits in building M371 in Harlem and shares it with other schools. Breakfast is served before the first bell, and every meal is free.
- Main office
- 212‑368‑8731
- Grades
- Pre‑K, Kindergarten, Grades 1–5, and special education (DOE listing: PK, 0K, 01, 02, 03, 04, 05, SE)
- Enrolment
- 144 students, excluding pre‑K (2025–26 Comprehensive Educational Plan)
- District
- Community School District 5, Manhattan — DBN 05M318, school number M318
- Breakfast
- Served 7:30–8:00 a.m. — “Breakfast, lunch and after school meal service is free for all NYC public school students.”
- Menus
- Pre‑K–8 breakfast menu · K–8 lunch menu
Suggested: the West 151 Street facade, so a family arriving for the first time recognises the door. Replace with the school’s own photograph and descriptive alternative text.
Building accessibility
The Department of Education lists this building as Not Accessible. If your family needs an accessible entrance, lift or route, please call the school before you visit and read what the DOE’s accessibility categories mean.
Languages
The school translates the school calendar, open-house fliers and school updates for families, and Spanish-speaking staff support families at parent–teacher conferences, the health fair and school assemblies. Ask the parent coordinator for interpretation at any meeting.
Who to ask for what
The people listed for this school
These are the roles published on the school’s official NYC Public Schools profile and in its Comprehensive Educational Plan. When in doubt, start with the parent coordinator.
- Principal Danica Goyens-Ward dgoyens-ward@schools.nyc.gov
- Parent coordinator Craig Frierson cfrierson2@schools.nyc.gov
- Respect for All liaison · Sexual harassment prevention liaison · Section 504 coordinator Patricia Butts pbutts@schools.nyc.gov
- Family support coordinator, District 5 Carla Tenorio ctenorio@schools.nyc.gov
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Superintendent, District 5
Sean Davenport
sdavenp@schools.nyc.gov
123 Morningside Drive, New York, NY 10027 · 212‑222‑1395
- President, Community Education Council 5 Schadell Barnhill cec5@schools.nyc.gov
Mental health and wellness
“Ask your Parent Coordinator, School Social Worker, or School Counselor for more information about your school’s mental health program.” For immediate support, NYC 988 offers free, confidential, 24/7 help — call or text 988. See also NYC Mental Health for All.
Families in the school’s decisions
As a Title I school, families are encouraged to take part in the School Leadership Team, the Parent Association and the Title I Parent Advisory Council, and the school hosts the required Annual Title I Parent Meeting each year.
Joining the school
How a family applies
Admission to New York City public elementary schools runs through MySchools, the city’s application portal. You can search for Thurgood Marshall Academy Lower School there, add it to your list, and track offers.
If you would rather talk to a person — about kindergarten, a mid-year transfer, a child new to New York City, or an application in another language — a Family Welcome Center will sit down with you.
And the simplest route is still the second Friday of the month: come to an Open House and see the school with children in it.
A pipeline, not a cliff. The school reports that it “is collaborating with Thurgood Marshall Academy Middle School to increase our partnership as pipeline schools,” and that the middle school’s leadership “will also be present to share their vision at future Open House sessions” here. Grade 5 families get help with the middle school process from October.
Source: the school’s 2025–26 Comprehensive Educational Plan. This concept page does not link a middle-school website, because no permitted source names which school that is by DBN.
The public record
Everything the city publishes about 05M318
A school named for Thurgood Marshall should be easy to check. These are the official reports, published by New York City Public Schools, exactly as they appear on the school’s profile.