J.H.S. 088 Peter Rouget

ELA proficiency landed at 59.3% and Math at 49.7% in 2025 — both below District 15 averages of roughly 65% and 63%. But the trajectory is the real story. ELA has climbed from 34.2% in 2016 to 59.3% in 2025, and Math from 38.1% to 49.7%. The school's overall quality score of 2.18 out of 4 sits below the district average of 2.58, though year-over-year progress suggests the gap is closing rather than widening. By grade, 8th graders post the strongest ELA (61.6%) while 7th graders lead in Math (57.4%) — a notable jump for the cohort that came back from pandemic-era disruption.

The trust numbers here are genuinely unusual: 97% of parents trust teachers and 98% trust the principal. Teacher-to-teacher trust sits at 94%, and 90% of teachers rate instruction quality highly — all at or above district averages. Discipline tells an even sharper story: suspensions dropped from 14 in 2021-22 to zero in 2023-24. But the attendance picture is harder to ignore. The school's 91.4% attendance rate is below the district's 93.5%, and 70% of students are chronically absent — a serious flag. The pattern by race is unusual too: Black students (52%) and Hispanic students (64%) are absent less often than White (90%), Asian (83%), and Multiracial (86%) students, which is the reverse of what most NYC schools see. Whatever's driving it, it's worth asking the school directly.

The student body mirrors the Sunset Park around it: 46% Hispanic, 21% White, 16% Asian, 13% Black, with a diversity index of 76%. About 27% of students have IEPs and the economic need index is 60.9%, meaning a majority of students come from low-income households. The PTA raised about $41 per student last year — well below the district's $491 average — so most enrichment depends on what the school funds itself rather than parent fundraising.

Sunset Park (West) is a working- and middle-class Brooklyn neighborhood with a median household income around $81,000, a 17% poverty rate, and a 35% rate of adults with a bachelor's degree. About 20% of households have children under 18, and homeownership sits at 25% — a renter-majority area where many families rent apartments in multi-family buildings. The neighborhood has long been a hub for immigrant families, especially from Latin America and East Asia, and that mix shows up directly in the school's demographics.

Families reach the school via the R at Prospect Avenue (about an 8-minute walk), the F or G at 15th Street–Prospect Park (about 10 minutes), or the R at 25th Street (about 10 minutes).