Eagle Academy for Young Men
Bronx, New York

77,515 SF • School Construction Authority

Eagle Academy for Young Men is an all-boys public school, sponsored by the non-profit organization 100 Black Men of New York, Inc. in conjunction with Eagle Academy Foundation. With a focus on academic excellence, leadership and character development, the school is geared toward young, disadvantaged males. The school is located in the Tremont section of the Bronx adjacent to a city park that offers a natural sense of relief to the rigid structure of the city streets. This green park vista is taken advantage of by the placement of the specialty classrooms focusing in this direction. The major east-west “Main Street” on which all the typical classrooms are oriented has a direct visual relationship towards this park. Two floors of these typical classrooms are organized along this street facing north. This loft-like bar of flexible classroom spaces hovers over the more public spaces on the lower two floors.

The replacement school provides much needed amenities for the 6th–12th grade school, including a library, a senate room equipped with teleconferencing capabilities, orchestra room, art room and science lab. These are the specialty classrooms — each having a form that is derived from their program uses. The teaching spaces are within this more flexible north facing bar. The lower level of the school contains a gymnasium that also serves as a gathering space for community events. A full service cafeteria also provides flexible-use space for community events. The program elements of the building are clad in different colors of brick, exposing the nature of the activities.

(Photography by Paúl Rivera; photomontage by DBB)