At a Glance
A tiny, purpose-driven Brooklyn elementary where every child is known by name
Best suited for
Families seeking a deeply personal, affordable elementary experience rooted in community and character development, and who value individualized attention over breadth of programs.
What stands out
- Extraordinarily small enrollment of roughly 30 students creates an almost family-like setting where each child gets substantial individual attention.
- 6:1 student-teacher ratio is among the lowest you'll find in any NYC private school at any grade level.
- Tuition of $8,000–$10,000 is well below typical Brooklyn private elementary pricing, making it accessible to a wider range of families.
- Participation in the free 3K and Pre-K for All programs lowers the entry barrier for younger families.
- The "classroom without borders" philosophy intentionally integrates the surrounding community into the curriculum.
Things to consider
- With only 30 students and no high school, children will need to transition out of the close-knit community at some point — there's no built-in social continuity past 5th grade.
- Some parent reviews raise concerns about leadership effectiveness, which is worth weighing against the otherwise positive feedback on teachers and small-class experience.
- The student body is racially homogeneous, so families specifically looking for a more diverse peer environment will want to look elsewhere or ask hard questions.
- "Mind, body, and spirit" language signals a values-driven, character-education approach — families should make sure this philosophy aligns with their own.
- Very small schools can be vulnerable to leadership or staffing changes in ways larger institutions are not, so longevity and governance matter here.
Identity
M A C A D E M Y is a nonsectarian, coeducational elementary school serving PK through 5th grade, founded on the philosophy of nurturing mind, body, and spirit alongside academic excellence. Its motto — "Education and Unity Build a Strong Community" — reflects a purpose-driven mission rooted in community consciousness and holistic development. The school explicitly embraces a "classroom without borders" approach, treating the broader world as the classroom rather than confining learning to four walls.
Community
With roughly 30 students total, this is an exceptionally intimate school community where every family is likely to know every other family. The student body is overwhelmingly Black (about 97%), with a small Hispanic population and no other represented groups in the most recent data, making it one of the more homogeneous student populations among NYC private schools. Parents describe a tight-knit feel where individualized attention and strong teacher communication are real selling points.
Neighborhood
The school sits in southern Crown Heights, a Brooklyn neighborhood where median household income lands around $70,000 and about a third of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher. About one in five residents live below the poverty line, reflecting a working-class area with deep cultural roots and ongoing economic diversity. The block is residential and family-oriented, with the rhythm of the surrounding community shaping the school's "without borders" learning philosophy.
Getting here by subway is genuinely convenient — the Nostrand Av (3) and President St–Medgar Evers College (2, 5) stops are each about a 3-minute walk, and Kingston Av (3) is about 7 minutes away.
Notable Programs
What Parents Are Saying
Generally positive - parents praise hands-on approach, effective communication, small class sizes, individualized attention, and caring teachers. Multiple reviews describe it as the best K-8 private school in NYC. Some negative reviews mention concerns about leadership effectiveness.
Synthesized from public parent reviews · Apr 2026
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Frequently Asked Questions
- Is M A C A D E M Y a good school?
- Published quality ratings aren't available for M A C A D E M Y yet on Motley. It's a private school serving grades Pre-K to 5 in Crown Heights (South).
- What grades does M A C A D E M Y serve?
- M A C A D E M Y serves grades Pre-K to 5.
- How do students get into M A C A D E M Y?
- M A C A D E M Y runs its own private admissions process — typically an application, a visit, and sometimes testing.
- Is M A C A D E M Y public, charter, or private?
- M A C A D E M Y is a private school.
- What neighborhood is M A C A D E M Y in?
- M A C A D E M Y is in Crown Heights (South), Brooklyn.