Harlem Children's Zone offers a myriad of services for the community starting at infancy. They know that to bring a group up you have to start at birth and not just in the classroom. I am not talking about these programs but the schools themselves.
HCZ schools are mediocre. They do not perform any better than peer schools. Peer schools have students with similar economic need, %IEP, % black and Hispanic, and % English language learners. That may or may not matter to you if you benefit from other services that they offer.
Here is a link to NYC Department of Education. Just select the school name and look at the data for yourself and determine what you want for your future child.
http://schools.nyc.gov/Accountability/tools/report/FindAProgressReport/default.htm
Here is the documentary
Waiting for Superman that help put Geoffrey Canada on the map. (Part 1 of 11).