I.S. 49 Berta A. Dreyfus

Proficiency rates land well below Staten Island's District 31 averages (31.3% ELA vs 61.3% district-wide; 27.6% math vs 61.0%), so on a single snapshot the academic picture looks tough. But the trend line is the better story: math proficiency has risen from 9.9% in 2016 to 27.6% in 2025, with a near-doubling between 2022 and 2024. ELA has been bumpier but generally trended up from 20.3% to 31.3%. Grade 7 math stands out at 37.9%, suggesting something strong is happening in that grade band specifically.

Families feel remarkably aligned with the school: parent satisfaction is 99%, parent-principal trust is 99%, and parent-teacher trust is 98% — all well above citywide norms. Teachers rate their instructional quality at 97% and generally trust one another (88% collegial trust). The catch is chronic absenteeism at 52.5%, with Asian students flagged at 78.9% — something families should ask about directly. The discipline picture is genuinely improving: suspensions dropped from 57 in 2021-22 to 36 in 2023-24, though the 9% suspension rate still sits well above the district average of 0.4%.

The student body is 46% Hispanic, 34% Black, 10% Asian, 7% White, and 1% multiracial — a portrait of a working-class, immigrant-rooted community that mirrors the surrounding North Shore census tract. The economic need index of 87.7 (on a 100-point scale) signals that nearly nine in ten students come from households facing economic stress. Thirty-four percent of students have IEPs, well above city averages, and the school runs an ELL support program alongside an Accelerated/Honors track.

The Tompkinsville-Stapleton-Clifton-Fox Hills area on Staten Island's North Shore is a working-class, increasingly diverse stretch of the borough, with a median household income around $52,653 and roughly one in four residents living below the poverty line. Just over a quarter of adults hold a bachelor's degree, homeownership sits around 34%, and only about 12% of households include children — so families with kids are a noticeable but not dominant presence in the immediate area.

There are no Manhattan-bound subways nearby — this is Staten Island, so getting to school means driving, the school bus, or a longer walk. The two closest stations are Stapleton (about a 12-minute walk) and Clifton (about a 10-minute walk), both on the Staten Island Railway.