At a Glance
A Bedford-Stuyvesant elementary where test scores are climbing fast but daily attendance and parent engagement remain real challenges
Best suited for
Families in the immediate Ralph Avenue neighborhood who want a neighborhood elementary school, value visible year-over-year progress, and are prepared to be actively involved in supporting their child's daily attendance and learning at home.
Overall Rating
Rating = average of NY State ELA + math proficiency, grades 3–8
Bands are Motley's thresholds on a 0–100 scale, not New York State performance levels.
How this is scored→What stands out
- Strong upward academic trajectory, with math proficiency nearly quadrupling between 2016 and 2019
- Pre-K through fifth grade on a single campus, allowing younger siblings to stay together
- Immediate access to the C train at Ralph Avenue
Things to consider
- Chronic absenteeism above 50% — more than half of students are missing significant school days
- Parent satisfaction (60%) and teacher instructional support ratings (63%) trail district averages by wide margins
- ELA and math proficiency remain well below district averages despite recent gains
- Limited enrichment or standout academic program data suggests a fairly traditional elementary experience
Based on 2019 data
School SummaryDistrict 16
Among District 16 peer schools, P.S. 028 sits well below leaders like Success Academy Bed-Stuy 3 (95/100) and Brooklyn Brownstone School (84/100), and behind mid-tier schools like P.S. 040 and P.S. 262. The school is in the lower tier of its district, though the recent score growth suggests it may be closing that gap over time.
Academics
Both ELA (29.3%) and math (44.8%) proficiency sit well below the District 16 averages of about 58% and 60% respectively, and the school's overall quality score of 1.48 out of 4 trails the district's 2.29 average. The more encouraging story is the trend: math proficiency has climbed from just 11.8% in 2016 to 44.8% in 2019, and ELA has risen from 20% to 29.3% over the same window. That's real, measurable growth, even if the school is still catching up rather than leading.
Culture
On paper, the climate numbers are concerning. Chronic absenteeism is at 52.4%, meaning more than half of students miss enough school to be flagged — a level that can undermine even strong classroom teaching. Parent satisfaction sits at 60.2%, well below the district average of 91.3%, and only 63.4% of teachers rate their instructional support positively, compared to 86.1% districtwide. That gap suggests teachers and families may not feel as heard or supported as at peer schools. The brighter spot is overall attendance (89.1%), which edges out the district average.
Community
The student body draws from Bedford-Stuyvesant's predominantly Black neighborhood, where about 11.9% of households include children and roughly 23% of families live below the poverty line. Bachelor's degree attainment among neighborhood adults is around 40.8%, and most residents rent rather than own. Median home values over $1.1 million reflect the area's rapid change, even as many long-time families remain.
Neighborhood
Bedford-Stuyvesant is a family-rooted Brooklyn neighborhood where roughly one in eight households includes children, median income is about $70,755, and homeownership is relatively low at 26.7%. The area has seen significant investment in recent years, with rising home values, while still anchoring a working-class and middle-class population.
The Ralph Avenue C train stop is a two-minute walk from the school, and the Halsey Street J train and Rockaway Avenue C train are each within about 10 to 11 minutes on foot.
Academic Performance
ELA Proficiency
Students scoring proficient or above on the NY State ELA exam.
NYC DOE InfoHub · 2022-23
Math Proficiency
Students scoring proficient or above on the NY State Math exam.
NYC DOE InfoHub · 2022-23
Historical Trends
2020–2021 data unavailable due to COVID-19
Source: NYC DOE School Quality Reports
Survey Results
NYC School Survey (2025)
How to get in, step by step
Pre-K
P.S. 028 The Warren Prep Academy also has Pre-K classes. They're a separate application from kindergarten, made on MySchools.
Pre-K application
Applications typically open in the winter and close in the spring, with offers in late spring; the city announces exact dates each year.
Kindergarten
P.S. 028 The Warren Prep Academy doesn't have an attendance zone of its own, so living nearby doesn't guarantee a seat here. Families apply on MySchools, and seats go to the school's priority groups first, then by random lottery.
Kindergarten application
- Opens
- Wed, Dec 9
- Closes
- Fri, Jan 22
- Offers
- Tue, Mar 30
The DOE’s published dates.
- 1Apply on MySchools during the kindergarten application.
- 2Rank this school with your zoned school, if you have one, and any others you'd take — in true preference order.
Open houses and tours
We haven’t seen open-house dates for this school yet.
From the MySchools admissions calendar, checked weekly.
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Frequently Asked Questions
- Is P.S. 028 The Warren Prep Academy a good school?
- On Motley, P.S. 028 The Warren Prep Academy earns an overall rating of 37/100 — the average of the school's New York State ELA and math proficiency, grades 3–8, shown out of 100. Its state test results run below the District 16 average.
- What grades does P.S. 028 The Warren Prep Academy serve?
- P.S. 028 The Warren Prep Academy serves grades Pre-K to 5.
- Is P.S. 028 The Warren Prep Academy public, charter, or private?
- P.S. 028 The Warren Prep Academy is a public school in NYC Community School District 16.
- What neighborhood is P.S. 028 The Warren Prep Academy in?
- P.S. 028 The Warren Prep Academy is in Bedford-Stuyvesant (East), Brooklyn.