The Urban Academy Laboratory High School (also known as the Urban Academy) is a small, progressive, transfer public high school located on the Upper East Side of New York City.

They create their own curriculum and direct students with a focus on inquiry, critical thinking, and problem-solving.

[2][3][4] Almost all classes are discussion based, with students expected to make arguments and support them with evidence, drawn either from course materials (primary and secondary texts) and/or their own experience.

Students must pass only the English Language Arts Regents exam, and complete six other performance-based assessments.

Urban Academy has a selective admissions process, as one cannot simply enroll through the central New York City Department of Education office.