P.S. 036 Saint Albans School

2025 proficiency of 48.7% in ELA and 49.2% in Math is a dramatic jump from 26.2% and 23.7% the year before — the biggest move in the data we have. Even with the jump, both metrics remain below district 29 averages (56.9% ELA, 53.7% Math), and the overall quality score of 1.96/4 sits below the district's 2.21. Grade 3 students performed notably better (68.4% ELA, 63.2% Math) than Grade 4 (31.7% ELA) and Grade 5 (47.4% ELA, 31.6% Math), suggesting strong foundations in the early grades that don't fully carry through. The historical trend from 2016–2024 was essentially flat in the 17–38% range, so this single-year jump is worth watching carefully — it could reflect a real instructional shift, a different cohort, or a single-year effect.

The day-to-day feel of P.S. 36 is family-positive but staff-skeptical — a striking split. Parent satisfaction sits at 95% (above the district's 91.4%), parent-teacher trust at 98%, and parent-principal trust at 97%. But only 37% of teachers report trusting the principal, a meaningful gap from parent confidence. Teacher-reported safety at 87% also trails the district's 93.9%. The school has a clean discipline record — zero suspensions in 2023-24 — which is genuinely notable. Teacher instruction quality (85%) is below the district's 88.4%, but strong relationships (100%) suggest a caring classroom culture.

The student body is 72% Black, 16% Hispanic, and 7% Asian, with a diversity index of 49% — meaning the school is fairly concentrated rather than deeply mixed. An economic need index of 72.2% signals that most students come from lower-income households, and 23% of students have IEPs, a meaningful share of the population. The neighborhood around the school is notably more middle-income (median household income around $98K) and homeowner-heavy than the student body suggests, so the school is drawing families from across the area, not just from the immediately adjacent blocks.

St. Albans is a settled, mostly middle-class neighborhood with strong homeownership (74.7%) and a median home value around $597K. Median household income is roughly $98K and the poverty rate is a modest 9.2%, suggesting a stable community that isn't facing acute economic distress. The 24.3% bachelor's-degree rate points to a working- and middle-class base rather than a highly credentialed one, and only 13.3% of households have children under 18, meaning this is more of a mixed-generation neighborhood than a young-family enclave.

No subway stations are within a 20-minute walk, so most families will get here by car, school bus, or local MTA bus — a real commute consideration for anyone without a vehicle.