J.H.S. 383 Philippa Schuyler

ELA proficiency of 51.4% sits about 5 points above the district average — solid, though down from a 2018 peak of 62.8%. Math is the real concern: at 32.5%, the school lands roughly 11 points below the district average, and the grade-by-grade breakdown shows a dramatic collapse in eighth grade, where only 19.9% of students are proficient. Sixth graders come in at 31.2% in math and seventh graders actually improve to 44.9%, so something specific to the 8th-grade math experience is dragging the school down — whether it's curriculum, staffing, or student engagement heading into the high school application year.

The school has a real split personality in its survey data. Parents are enthusiastic — 93% satisfied, 92% trusting teachers, 91% trusting the principal — but teachers are far less bullish on their own leadership, with only 62% reporting trust in the principal and just 72% rating instruction quality as strong (compared to a district average of 86%). Attendance is decent at 92%, but chronic absenteeism at 72.9% is high, and the discipline picture is genuinely improving — suspensions have dropped from 12 in 2021-22 to just 4 in 2023-24, a meaningful trajectory. The day-to-day feel is probably warm and family-friendly, but teachers may feel under-supported from above.

The student body is 66% Hispanic and 28% Black, reflecting the working-class Latino core of Bushwick, with an economic need index of 79.7% meaning most families qualify for free lunch. The neighborhood around the school has a median household income of $86,760 and a 20.4% poverty rate — a community where many households are stretching but a substantial share of adults hold a bachelor's degree. With 877 students and a diversity index of 49%, this is a large, mostly Hispanic school where the screened admissions process draws families committed to a traditional public school path over a charter.

Bushwick is a neighborhood in transition — the 11% homeownership rate and $882,000 median home value tell you this is a renter-majority community where rising property values sit alongside a 20% poverty rate. About 11% of households have children, and 44% of adults hold a bachelor's degree, so families here are a mix of long-time Latino residents and newer, often younger arrivals drawn by relative affordability and the L train commute. The area around the school is densely built and walkable, with the M train at Knickerbocker Avenue essentially at the doorstep.

The Knickerbocker Avenue M stop is about a 2-minute walk, making this one of the easier Bushwick commutes — the Myrtle-Wyckoff M is around 8 minutes and the DeKalb Avenue L is about 9 minutes on foot.