NEW YORK — On a recent Thursday morning in the Pelham Bay section of the Bronx, nearly 100 ninth-grade students file into a building that used to house a Catholic school to begin another day of class.

But the sign and name on the outside of the building can fool most who don’t know what’s going on inside. The Earl Monroe New Renaissance Basketball School, named after the New York Knicks legend and Hall of Famer, is one of the city’s newest charter schools. Its aim is giving students the best chance to thrive and succeed in an environment of a major university or professional sports team.