Earl Monroe New Renaissance Basketball School, the tuition-free charter high school built around the business and science of basketball, now lists its home as a new five-story building at 647 Elton Avenue in the South Bronx, at the corner of Third Avenue, Elton Avenue and East 153rd Street.

The school, named for the Hall of Fame guard Earl Monroe, describes itself as the first school of its kind in the country. Its curriculum uses basketball as the frame for careers around the game: broadcast media, sports psychology, sports law, nutrition, facilities management and venture capital, alongside a standard high school program.

The building

According to the school's capital campaign page, the building has five stories and a cellar, about 70,000 square feet in all. Its centerpiece is an 8,000-square-foot gymnasium. It also holds:

  • 24 classrooms of about 650 square feet each, two science labs and an art studio
  • A library and media production studio, and a broadcast studio with a green screen
  • A weight-training and physical therapy room
  • A dining commons in the cellar with an on-site kitchen and a nutrition education center, plus dance and recording rooms

The architects are ESKW/Architects and IMC Architecture. The arched entrance borrows from early 1900s field houses, and the brick facade nods to New York school buildings of the 1920s and 1930s. The developer is Pillar Property Management, and the school holds a long-term lease. The main entrance is at East 152nd Street and Elton Avenue.

More seats

The new building raises the school's capacity to 440 students in grades 9 through 12, up from 395. Each grade has its own full-time counselor, a ratio of about one counselor to 110 students, and two more full-time counselors handle college and career planning. The school is in Community School District 7.

How it got here

The school opened in 2021 with a ribbon cutting at which NBA Commissioner Adam Silver spoke. Its fundraising for the permanent site has run under the name the $5 Million Challenge.

For families

As a charter school, Earl Monroe New Renaissance is tuition-free and admits students by lottery. Families interested in applying for ninth grade can find admissions information on the school's website or call 718-873-6049. The building is a short walk from the 2 and 5 trains at Third Avenue-149th Street, at the Hub.

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