J.H.S. 078 Roy H. Mann

ELA proficiency of 57% and math proficiency of 50% both land below the district averages of roughly 61% and 60%, but the trajectory is the headline. Math proficiency has nearly quadrupled since 2016 (from 13% to 50%), and ELA has nearly tripled (21% to 57%), with the steepest gains coming in the last three years. The science proficiency number (39%) is the lowest of the three and worth asking about, but the overall pattern is one of a school actively catching up rather than drifting. Grade-level breakdowns show 7th-graders outperforming 6th and 8th in both subjects this year, a common pattern that suggests students who stay through the program continue to grow.

The trust numbers here are unusually strong for a middle school — 94% of parents feel heard by teachers, 95% trust the principal, and 97% of teachers rate instruction quality and principal trust highly. Discipline is light and trending down slightly (9 suspensions last year, down from 10 the prior two years), though the suspension rate of 2% sits meaningfully above the district average of 0.5%. The harder signal is the chronic absenteeism rate of 71%, meaning roughly seven in ten students miss 10% or more of school days, even though average attendance is a healthy 92%. That gap — strong engagement from survey respondents alongside high chronic absence — is worth a direct conversation with the school about what's driving it.

The student body is majority Black (57%), with sizable White (16%), Hispanic (15%), and Asian (10%) populations — more racially mixed than the surrounding neighborhood, which skews whiter and more middle-class (median household income around $108K, only 7% poverty, 74% homeownership). Twenty-nine percent of students have IEPs, a meaningfully higher share than the citywide norm, and the economic need index of 66 signals a working- and middle-class population rather than an affluent one. In practice, this is a neighborhood school that draws from a broader cross-section of Brooklyn families than the immediate census tract would suggest.

Marine Park, Mill Basin, and Bergen Beach are quiet, car-oriented southeast Brooklyn neighborhoods defined by single-family homes, a high homeownership rate, and a solidly middle-class population where more than four in ten adults hold a bachelor's degree. Households with children make up nearly a quarter of all homes, giving the area a family-heavy feel with steady sidewalks and active schoolyards. There are no subway stations within a 20-minute walk of the school, which means most families arrive by car, school bus, or a long stroller-and-umbrella walk.

This school is beyond walking distance of the subway — families without a car or bus route should plan accordingly.