East Flatbush Ascend Charter School

Math proficiency at 90.8% is dramatically higher than District 18's 61.4% average, while ELA at 71.8% also tops the district's 58.4%. The trajectory is uneven but ultimately upward: ELA dipped from 64.5% in 2022 to 46.4% in 2024 before rebounding sharply to 71.8%, while math climbed steadily from 67.7% to 90.8% over the same span. Third-graders post stronger numbers (81% ELA, 93.2% math) than fourth-graders (62.8% ELA, 88.4% math), though both grades remain comfortably above district norms.

The 95.3% daily attendance rate is solid — five points above the district's 90.5% — but chronic absenteeism tells a more complicated story. At 87.7%, nearly every student at the school is missing 10% or more of school days, a pattern that affects both male (86.6%) and female (88.9%) students similarly and is slightly more pronounced among Black students (88.7%). This is the kind of climate signal that doesn't show up in test scores but quietly shapes how much learning actually sticks.

Black students make up 84% of the student body, with smaller shares of Native American (6%), Hispanic (5%), White (3%), Asian (2%), and multiracial (2%) students — a more homogeneous population than the city as a whole, reflected in a 38% diversity index. The economic need index of 77.6 is well above the citywide average, indicating a high-need community, and 13% of students have IEPs. The surrounding East Flatbush-Rugby neighborhood has a 13.4% poverty rate and a median household income of $71,298, slightly above the borough median.

East Flatbush-Rugby is a working-class, Caribbean-rooted section of central Brooklyn where just over a quarter of adults hold a bachelor's degree and 38.8% of households own their homes. The neighborhood has a 13.4% poverty rate and a median home value around $669,000, reflecting both modest incomes and Brooklyn's broader housing market. About 12% of households include children under 18, anchoring a deep multigenerational community around its schools.

The 2/5 trains are the subway of choice — Church Av is about an 11-minute walk, Winthrop St about 13 minutes, and Beverly Rd about 15 minutes, all heading toward Flatbush or downtown Brooklyn.