At a Glance
A small Brooklyn high school where the culinary program is five times oversubscribed and zero suspensions is the norm
Best suited for
Brooklyn families who want a small, culturally affirming high school with a real sense of community, are interested in culinary arts or a college-prep track, and can manage a bus commute from outside the East Flatbush area.
Overall Rating
Rating = average of 4-year graduation, English Regents college-ready and Regents completion · DOE 2025 report
Bands are Motley's thresholds on a 0–100 scale, not New York State performance levels.
How this is scored→What stands out
- Culinary Arts program with 5:1 applicant-to-seat demand (341 applicants for 67 seats)
- Zero suspensions — well below the district average of roughly 1%
- 99% parent trust in the principal and 100% teacher trust in the principal
- Small-school size (204 students) that supports a close-knit community feel
- Cultural-identity focus embedded in the school's name and program design
Things to consider
- No subway within walking distance — families outside East Flatbush face a bus or car commute
- PTA fundraising is just $4 per student versus a district average of $22.67, which limits what the parent organization can fund
- Small enrollment means fewer course sections, electives, and sports teams than larger high schools
- Only 12 teachers responded to the climate survey, so the near-perfect trust scores come from a small sample
- No publicly reported state proficiency data in the available figures makes academic outcomes harder to assess
Based on 2025 data
School SummaryDistrict 18
Cultural Academy sits in District 18 alongside high-performing peers like East Flatbush Ascend Charter (81/100) and several strong elementary and middle schools, including P.S. 244 (79/100) and P.S. 208 (79/100). District-wide averages (58% ELA proficiency, 61% math) are middle-of-the-pack for Brooklyn, but this school's specific performance data wasn't available. Its culinary focus and cultural mission make it a distinctive option within the district rather than a typical zoned comprehensive.
Academics
The school's publicly reported state proficiency data wasn't in the available figures, but the academic signals that are visible are strong. Teacher-reported instruction quality sits at 97%, well above the district average of 89.8%. The signature draw is the Culinary Arts program — 341 applicants competing for 67 seats, a 20% offer rate — alongside a smaller Cultural Academy College Prep track (16.7% offer rate). AP courses and ELL support round out the academic menu, and the program's overall richness score of 77.8/100 suggests a reasonably full offering for a school this small.
Culture
This is an unusually calm school. Zero suspensions against a district average of roughly 1% is striking, and the trust numbers are near-perfect: 99% of parents trust the principal, 98% trust teachers, 100% of teachers trust the principal, and 94% of families are satisfied overall. The day-to-day feel is one of a small community where adults know each other. One caveat worth flagging: only 12 teachers responded to the survey, so those perfect teacher-trust scores reflect a small sample. The 35% family survey response rate is healthy and suggests engaged parents.
Community
The student body is 85% Black and 11% Hispanic, with an economic need index of 80.5 — meaning most families are working- or middle-class and many are navigating real financial pressure. 28% of students have IEPs, a meaningful special education population. The surrounding East Flatbush-Rugby neighborhood has a median household income of $71,298, a 13.4% poverty rate, and 25.4% of adults holding a bachelor's degree, so the school mirrors the community it serves.
Neighborhood
East Flatbush-Rugby is a predominantly Black, working- and middle-class Brooklyn neighborhood where 38.8% of households own their homes, the median home value is around $669,000, and about 12% of households include children. It's a residential area with a community-school feel rather than a destination neighborhood — families here are largely local, and the rhythms of school life reflect that.
There are no subway stations within a 20-minute walk, so most families arrive by MTA bus, school transportation, or car. For anyone outside the immediate East Flatbush area, this commute is a real factor.
Survey Results
NYC School Survey (2025) · 99 families responded (35% rate)
Programs & Activities
Admissions Demand
Students are taught by chefs who have several years of experience in the restaurant industry. They begin by studying Kitchen Safety & Sanitation and progress through Recipes, Weights and Measures; Flavor and Nutrition; Knife Skills, Vegetable and Meat Fabrication; Stocks, Broths, Soups and Sauces; Cooking Methods, Techniques and Terms; International Cuisines. Students also learn through, internships, catering events, running a lunch cafe, and field trips to produce markets and restaurants.
Advanced sequence of study to prepare students for post-secondary work and informed selection of majors. This cutting-edge national pilot program of curriculum, instruction, and mentoring was designed in collaboration with our national college partners.
Racial & Ethnic Diversity
NYC DOE InfoHub · 2022-23
PTA Fundraising
Source: DOE Local Law 171 disclosure
Discipline
NYSED Student & Educator Database
Economic Need & Special Populations
How to get in, step by step
High school (9th grade)
High school is one citywide application, made in 8th grade. Cultural Academy for the Arts and Sciences admits through 2 programs, and each one has its own admissions method:
- Culinary ArtsUnscreened
- Cultural Academy College PrepUnscreened
High school application
- Opened
- Tue, Oct 6
- Closes
- Fri, Dec 4
- Offers
- Wed, Mar 3
The DOE’s published dates.
- 1Apply on MySchools during the high school application, in 8th grade.
- 2Unscreened programs fill by random lottery among the families who rank them.
- 3Rank programs in true preference order — the match places your child in the highest-ranked one that offers a seat.
Open houses and tours
Open house
Tue, Nov 10, · 5:00 PM · In person
From the MySchools admissions calendar, checked weekly.
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Frequently Asked Questions
- Is Cultural Academy for the Arts and Sciences a good school?
- On Motley, Cultural Academy for the Arts and Sciences earns an overall rating of 56/100 — the average of the school's four-year graduation rate, the share of its students scoring college-ready (70+) on the English Regents, and its Regents completion rate, shown out of 100.
- What grades does Cultural Academy for the Arts and Sciences serve?
- Cultural Academy for the Arts and Sciences serves grades 9 to 12.
- How do students get into Cultural Academy for the Arts and Sciences?
- Cultural Academy for the Arts and Sciences admits by application through a random lottery, with no academic screen.
- Is Cultural Academy for the Arts and Sciences public, charter, or private?
- Cultural Academy for the Arts and Sciences is a public school in NYC Community School District 18.
- What neighborhood is Cultural Academy for the Arts and Sciences in?
- Cultural Academy for the Arts and Sciences is in East Flatbush-Rugby, Brooklyn.