Legacy School of the Arts

ELA proficiency of 35.1% lands roughly 14 points below the District 19 average of about 49%, and the trajectory has slipped from a 2022 peak near 42%. Math is the larger concern at 20.1% — less than half the district average of 48% — and has been volatile, swinging from 17.6% in 2022 to 31.9% in 2023 and back down to 20.1% in 2025. The 8th grade math proficiency of 8.8% is the starkest data point: by the final year, almost no students are testing proficient. 6th graders come in stronger (42.9% math), suggesting skills erode rather than build across the middle school years.

Attendance at 87.6% is a touch below the district average, but chronic absenteeism at nearly 50% is the more telling number — about half the students miss enough school to flag as chronically absent, with boys and Black students hardest hit. The discipline picture is mixed: a 6% suspension rate is roughly four times the district average, though the trend has improved from 17 suspensions in 2022-23 to 11 in 2023-24. The most striking climate signal is the gap between parent trust (91% parent-teacher, 94% parent-principal) and teacher trust in the principal, which sits at just 23% — a figure often linked to staff turnover and inconsistent leadership. Teacher-rated instruction quality at 64% also trails the district's 88%.

The student body is 59% Black and 32% Hispanic, with an economic need index of 90.9 — meaning roughly nine in ten students come from low-income households. About a quarter of students have IEPs, and the school is small at 157 students, with average class size of 22, in line with district norms. The neighborhood mirrors this profile: a working-class eastern Brooklyn community where most families rent rather than own. Despite the high need indicators, families who do engage — about 36% of them returned the parent survey — report strong relationships with the school.

East New York-New Lots is a working-class section of eastern Brooklyn where homeownership sits under 30% and only about 16% of adults hold a bachelor's degree. The median household income is around $58,000 and the poverty rate is just over 22%, but home values near $605K reflect the area's gradual reinvestment. Households with children make up just over 10% of the neighborhood, so the families who are here tend to be invested in staying.

Transit access is a genuine plus: Pennsylvania Avenue on the 3 line is about a 4-minute walk, and both New Lots Avenue and Livonia Avenue on the L are about 7 minutes away — three subway options within easy reach.