P.S. 021 Crispus Attucks

Proficiency is comfortably above district averages — District 16 sits around 57.6% ELA and 57% math, and P.S. 021 runs roughly 20 points higher in both subjects. Scores climbed steadily from the mid-50s (2018–2019) through the low-50s to high-50s (2022–2024), then jumped sharply in 2025 to the high-70s. That single-year leap is large enough that parents should treat it as striking but unconfirmed — strong results like this tend to be cohort-sensitive, and the next year of data will tell us whether this is a new floor or a one-time surge. Across grades 3–5, ELA holds in the high 60s to low 80s and math in the low-to-high 70s, with grade 4 the strongest.

Survey numbers are remarkably strong for a large, high-need elementary: 95% parent satisfaction, 97% trust in both teachers and the principal, 100% of teachers reporting strong relationships with families, and 96% teacher-reported safety. Discipline is essentially a non-issue — zero suspensions in each of the last three reported years, well below the district's roughly 1% average. The day-to-day feel from the numbers is warm and stable, with leadership that adults trust. The major flag is attendance: the 88.5% rate is roughly in line with the district, but chronic absenteeism at 56.4% means a majority of students miss enough school to be officially "chronically absent," and the gap is wider for girls (61%) and Black students (60%) than for Hispanic students (42%).

P.S. 021's 487 students are overwhelmingly Black (84%) and Hispanic (13%), reflecting the eastern Bed-Stuy neighborhood it serves. The diversity index sits at 29%, meaning the student body is fairly concentrated rather than mixed — a different environment from more heterogeneous Brooklyn elementaries. With an economic need index of 81.3 and 21% of students classified as having IEPs, this is a high-need population by city measures, and the school's strong proficiency results arrive against that backdrop. About a third of families completed the parent survey, a healthy response rate that gives those satisfaction numbers real weight.

Eastern Bedford-Stuyvesant is a working- and middle-class Brooklyn neighborhood where median household income is around $70,750, about a quarter of residents live below the poverty line, and roughly 40% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher. Just under 12% of households include children, which is on the low side for the city and means family-sized housing can be competitive. The block is overwhelmingly renter-occupied (about 73%), and median home values north of $1.1 million reflect how quickly the area has been priced up.

Subway access is genuinely good: the Utica Av A and C trains are about a 5-minute walk, the Ralph Av C train is around 7 minutes, and the Gates Av J and Z is roughly 14 minutes on foot.