Fort Greene Preparatory Academy

Test scores tell a real comeback story. ELA proficiency has climbed from 17% in 2016 to 51% in 2025, and math has moved from 9% to 35% — gains that outpace most Brooklyn middle schools over the same period. ELA now sits just shy of the district average of 53%, but math (35%) remains well behind the district's 46%, so the school is closing in on reading but still chasing in math. The trajectory by grade is uneven: 7th-graders are the strongest cohort (56% ELA, 49% math), while 8th-grade math proficiency drops to just 20%, suggesting students arrive stronger than they finish.

Family trust is the headline here — 97% of parents report trusting both their child's teacher and the principal, and parent satisfaction sits at 92%. Discipline is mild (3 suspensions last year, down from 7 the year before, and below the district's 1.4% rate). The harder numbers are chronic absenteeism at 61% and teacher-rated instruction quality at 75%, well below the district's 88% — but the teacher survey drew only 17 responses, the entire staff, so that signal deserves caution. Overall attendance (89.4%) looks normal, but six in ten students missed enough school to count as chronically absent, which is the climate issue worth watching.

The student body is 53% Black and 27% Hispanic, with smaller shares of White, multiracial, and Asian students, and an economic need index of 73 — meaning most families arrive under real financial pressure. About 32% of students have IEPs, and ELL support is on offer. This profile doesn't match the immediate Fort Greene neighborhood, which skews far more affluent and professional; the school clearly pulls families from a wider catchment than the census tract around it.

Fort Greene is a leafy, professional Brooklyn pocket where roughly 59% of adults hold a bachelor's degree and median home values push past $1.1 million, even though only about 13% of households include children. The school sits in the middle of this mismatch — surrounded by relatively affluent professionals, while serving a student body with much higher economic need. Getting here takes some walking: the nearest subway options are Clinton-Washington Avs on the G about 11 minutes away, with Fulton St (G) and Lafayette Av (C) both about 12 minutes on foot.

Most families will walk — the closest station is Clinton-Washington Avs on the G (about 11 minutes), with Fulton St on the G and Lafayette Av on the C both around 12 minutes away; none are express lines.