East New York Middle School of Excellence

Test scores here have climbed steadily and meaningfully: ELA proficiency rose from 12.8% in 2016 to 29.5% in 2025, and math went from 5.2% to 18.6% over the same span. That is real progress, but it is still a long way from the district averages of roughly 49% in both subjects. Math remains the bigger gap, and the overall quality score (0.96 out of 4) is about half the district average, putting this school in the lower tier of Brooklyn middle schools on raw performance. Looking across grades, 8th graders edge out 6th graders on ELA (31.2% vs. 30.9%), while 7th graders actually post the strongest math result at 20.3% — an unusual pattern worth noting.

The day-to-day feel here is a mixed picture. Parents clearly feel connected to teachers (97% trust) and are largely satisfied with the school at 88%, close to the district norm of 91%. Teachers give instruction quality high marks (92%, above the district 88%), and they trust each other at 81%. The friction point is between teachers and leadership — only 66% of teachers trust their principal, compared with 75% of parents. Discipline is trending the wrong way: suspensions doubled from 5 in 2021-22 to 11 in 2023-24, and the suspension rate of 5% is roughly triple the district average. That said, only 19 teachers responded to the survey, so the staff-side numbers carry some uncertainty.

The student body mirrors the surrounding blocks of East New York almost exactly: 47% Black, 46% Hispanic, with small numbers of Asian (4%), White (2%), and Native American (2%) students. With an economic need index of 92.9%, nearly every family qualifies for some form of public assistance, and 27% of students have IEPs. The school is small enough that most families probably know each other, and the 50% family survey response rate — fairly robust — suggests parents here are engaged.

East New York (North) is a working-class, family-rooted neighborhood where the median household income sits around $57,841 and about a quarter of residents live in poverty. Homeownership is low (30%) and the typical home value is around $617,000, reflecting the area's mix of long-time homeowners and recent price pressure. Only 15.7% of adults have a bachelor's degree, and just 17.2% of households include children — so families with middle-schoolers are a noticeable but not dominant slice of the community.

Getting to school is doable by transit but not door-to-door convenient. The C train at Shepherd Av and the 3 train at New Lots Av are each about a 7-minute walk, and the A and C at Euclid Av is a 12-minute walk — so most families will rely on a single line or a parent drop-off.