M.S. 061 Dr. Gladstone H. Atwell

Proficiency rates land at 46% in ELA and 41% in math, both meaningfully below the district averages of roughly 61% and 57% respectively, and science proficiency is just 21%. The trajectory, however, is genuinely encouraging — ELA has climbed from 29% in 2016 to 46% in 2025, and math has nearly doubled from 22% to 41% over the same span. The grade-level breakdown reveals a worrying pattern: sixth graders arrive performing well in math (65% proficient) but eighth graders leave with just 25% math proficiency, suggesting something is breaking down in the transition years. The school's overall quality score of 1.74 out of 4 sits well below the district average of 2.36.

The climate picture here is one of real contrasts. Parent satisfaction is at 99%, parent-principal trust is at 100%, and parent-teacher trust is at 98% — all far above district norms — which tells you families feel genuinely connected to the school. On the staff side, though, teachers rate instructional quality at just 74% (versus a district average near 89%), and only nine teachers completed the survey, which limits how much weight to put on those numbers. Attendance is a serious concern at 88% (below the district's 91%) with chronic absenteeism affecting 53% of students. The bright spot is discipline: suspensions have dropped sharply from 17 to 11 to 4 over three years, landing the school at a 1% suspension rate.

The student body is 83% Black, with smaller shares of Hispanic (11%), white, Asian, multiracial, and Native American students, and a diversity index of just 36% — this is not a demographically mixed school. Twenty-seven percent of students have IEPs, and the economic need index of 84.5% indicates most families are at or near the poverty line. The neighborhood around the school, Prospect Lefferts Gardens-Wingate, has a median household income of about $73,000 and a 15.9% poverty rate, so the school serves a population that is somewhat less affluent than its immediate surroundings.

Prospect Lefferts Gardens-Wingate is a Brooklyn neighborhood where roughly 10% of households include children, median home values approach $950,000, but the homeownership rate is only 22.5% — meaning most residents rent, and the area blends long-standing Caribbean-American roots with newer middle-class arrivals. About 42% of adults nearby hold a bachelor's degree, and the poverty rate of 15.9% sits just below the citywide average. It's a transit-rich pocket of central Brooklyn with a strong neighborhood feel.

Families have three nearby subway options: Sterling Street on the 2/5 is about a three-minute walk, President Street–Medgar Evers College on the 2/5 is roughly seven minutes, and the Nostrand Avenue stop on the 3 is around nine minutes away.