P.S. 023 Carter G. Woodson

ELA proficiency of 37.8% and math proficiency of 43.2% are well below the District 14 averages of 62% and 59%, but both metrics are at nine-year highs. The school bottomed out around 15% proficiency in 2017 and again in 2022, then climbed sharply — math jumped from 29% to 43% in just one year. There's a wide spread by grade: third-graders are at 53% ELA and 68% math, while fifth-graders land at 29% ELA and 36% math, which suggests younger cohorts are entering stronger and the school has real momentum at the lower end.

The climate here is one of the strongest signals in the data: 99% parent-teacher trust, 100% of teachers reporting strong relationships, 98% rating instruction quality positively, and 94% feeling safe — all well above typical. Discipline has trended cleanly downward, from three suspensions in 2021-22 to zero in 2023-24. The big caution flag is chronic absenteeism at 54.8%, meaning more than half of students miss enough school to be flagged — Hispanic students are hit hardest at 60.6%. Daily attendance is right at the district average of 89%, so the chronic-absence number reflects extended absences rather than day-to-day truancy, but it's still a real barrier to learning.

The student body is 56% Black and 41% Hispanic, reflecting the surrounding neighborhood, with only 2% white enrollment. The economic need index of 90% signals that almost every family qualifies for economic assistance, and 29% of students have IEPs — a meaningfully higher share than typical. With 259 students across six grades plus special education, this is a genuinely small school where most families and staff know each other by name.

Bedford-Stuyvesant (West) is a predominantly Black and Hispanic neighborhood where median household income sits around $77,700 and just over a quarter of residents live below the poverty line. About 16% of households have children under 18, and nearly half of working-age adults hold a bachelor's degree. Homeownership is low at 20%, reflecting a renter-majority community, though median home values are well into seven figures thanks to broader market trends.

Myrtle-Willoughby Avenues on the G train is roughly a two-minute walk, making the subway genuinely convenient; Flushing Avenue (G) and Bedford-Nostrand Avenues (G) are each about a 10-minute walk, so families rely on the G line for transit.