Brooklyn Dreams Charter School

ELA proficiency of 60.3% lands almost exactly at the District 22 average of 61%, and the trajectory is the more interesting story: reading proficiency has climbed from 36% in 2016 to 60.3% in 2025, with an especially sharp jump between 2024 and 2025. Math tells the opposite tale. At 37.8%, the school sits well below the district average of 60.5%, and the year-to-year numbers show a choppy pattern — a high of 46.4% in 2023 followed by a step back to 37.8%. By grade, math proficiency craters in the middle and upper grades, dropping into the mid-20s in grades 5, 6, and 8, while ELA is strongest in grades 5 and 7. The overall Quality Review score of 1.96 out of 4 reflects these imbalances and comes in below the district average of 2.43.

The day-to-day feel here is hard to read because so few families completed the survey — only six responses, a 1% rate — meaning the strong parent-trust numbers (93% parent-teacher trust, 78% parent-principal trust, 83% parent satisfaction) are essentially anecdotal. Attendance is a more reliable signal, and it is concerning: a 90.2% rate sits just below the district average, but chronic absenteeism at 62.1% means nearly two-thirds of students miss enough school to be flagged. That figure is unusually high and worth weighing seriously; it suggests families may be facing real barriers to consistent attendance, from housing instability to school commute challenges. Discipline and safety data were not provided in detail, so it's worth asking the school directly about suspension rates and how conflict is handled.

The student body is majority Black (58%), with a sizable Hispanic population (21%) and a growing Asian population (11%), reflecting the broader Flatbush-Ditmas Park-Parkville area. About 19% of students have IEPs and the economic need index of 72.7 indicates a high share of students from low-income households. The neighborhood around the school has a median household income of $87,261, a 15.6% poverty rate, and 20.9% of households with kids — moderate-income but with real economic diversity. The school's economic profile skews lower-need than the immediate neighborhood, which often happens with charter lotteries that draw from a wider catchment area.

The school sits in the Flatbush (West)-Ditmas Park-Parkville neighborhood, a residential stretch of central Brooklyn where median home values cross $1 million and 45.5% of adults hold a bachelor's degree. Households with kids make up roughly a fifth of the area, and the homeownership rate of 34.2% points to a stable renter-heavy mix that includes many young families. Median household income of $87,261 is solid but masks a 15.6% poverty rate, meaning the school draws students from a wide range of backgrounds.

Families can reach the school via the F at 18 Av (about 9 minutes on foot), the B and Q at Newkirk Plaza (also around 9 minutes), or the Q at Avenue H (about 10 minutes). Three lines in two directions make car-free commutes realistic for most of central Brooklyn.