At a Glance
A Christ-centered Brooklyn elementary where engineering and arts share the classroom with faith formation.
Best suited for
Catholic (or Catholic-curious) Bay Ridge families with young children who want faith formation, technology integration, and a creative STEM-arts curriculum bundled together before the middle school transition.
What stands out
- An engineering-focused curriculum is a genuinely unusual fit for an elementary Catholic school and signals a STEM-forward approach starting in the early grades.
- 1:1 technology with a dedicated Mac Lab means every student works on a device daily, not just in a shared computer room.
- Arts are treated as integral to the mission rather than an elective, woven alongside faith formation.
- Foreign language instruction begins in the elementary years, giving kids a head start before middle school.
- Rolling admissions remove the deadline-pressure game that defines most private school applications.
Things to consider
- The program ends at 5th grade, so families will need a separate middle school plan — a real consideration for parents who don't want to switch schools mid-stream.
- Tuition spans a wide range ($6,760–$15,600); the spread almost certainly reflects parish affiliation, grade level, or both, so it's worth asking the school directly what determines where you land.
- Catholic identity is the spine of the school, not a side offering; non-Catholic families should expect regular prayer, sacramental preparation, and faith-based instruction.
- A 14.9:1 ratio is solid but not unusually small — if you're comparing against microschools, this isn't that.
- Rolling admissions are easier on the parent but mean there's no fixed class size guarantee; applying earlier is generally wiser.
Identity
Bay Ridge Catholic Academy is a coeducational Catholic elementary school serving Pre-K through 5th grade under the Diocese of Brooklyn, accredited by the NCEA. Its mission centers on forming children "in the knowledge and love of Jesus Christ" through a Bold, Resilient, Christ-centered approach that integrates engineering and the arts into daily learning. Faith, character, and creativity are treated as parts of the same project, not separate subjects.
Community
The student body of about 321 largely reflects the surrounding Bay Ridge area: roughly 68% White, about 23% Hispanic, with smaller Asian, Black, and multiracial populations. Reviews consistently describe a tight, parish-style community where families know one another and teachers stay long enough to know the kids. The diversity index sits in the moderate range, leaning more homogeneous than the citywide private school average.
Neighborhood
Bay Ridge is a stable, family-oriented corner of southwest Brooklyn where the median household income reaches about $89,000, the poverty rate sits around 11.5%, and roughly half of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher. It is the kind of neighborhood where households tend to put down roots and where schools draw many of their students from within a few blocks.
The R train covers the commute nicely: 86 St (R) is about a 4-minute walk, 77 St (R) about 7 minutes, and the line's terminal at Bay Ridge-95 St (R) about 13 minutes on foot.
Notable Programs
What Parents Are Saying
Generally positive reviews praising dedicated teachers, strong community, excellent preparation for high school, and technology integration. Ratings of 4.2/5 and 4.6/5.
Synthesized from public parent reviews · Apr 2026
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Frequently Asked Questions
- Is BAY RIDGE CATHOLIC ACADEMY a good school?
- Published quality ratings aren't available for BAY RIDGE CATHOLIC ACADEMY yet on Motley. It's a private school serving grades Pre-K to 5 in Bay Ridge.
- What grades does BAY RIDGE CATHOLIC ACADEMY serve?
- BAY RIDGE CATHOLIC ACADEMY serves grades Pre-K to 5.
- How do students get into BAY RIDGE CATHOLIC ACADEMY?
- BAY RIDGE CATHOLIC ACADEMY runs its own private admissions process — typically an application, a visit, and sometimes testing.
- Is BAY RIDGE CATHOLIC ACADEMY public, charter, or private?
- BAY RIDGE CATHOLIC ACADEMY is a private school.
- What neighborhood is BAY RIDGE CATHOLIC ACADEMY in?
- BAY RIDGE CATHOLIC ACADEMY is in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn.