P.S. 038 The Pacific

Both ELA (78%) and Math (76.3%) proficiency are comfortably above the District 15 averages of 65.5% and 63.3% respectively, and the overall quality score of 3.09/4 outpaces the district's 2.58. The trajectory tells the bigger story: ELA has climbed from 49.3% in 2016 to 78% in 2025, and Math from 48% to 76.3% — a steady, multi-year climb rather than a single-year spike. Third graders are the standout, posting 84.6% ELA proficiency and a remarkable 92.2% in Math, though scores still drop meaningfully by Grade 5 (72.5% ELA, 68.1% Math), suggesting upper-grades could use continued focus.

The day-to-day feel here is warm and family-centered. Parent satisfaction sits at 95%, parent-teacher trust at 98%, and 100% of teachers report strong relationships with families — numbers that are hard to beat. Teacher collegial trust is also high (96%), and instruction quality is rated 97%. One number demands a parent's attention, though: teacher-principal trust is just 22%, a striking gap that suggests real friction between staff and leadership even as everything else reads well. Discipline is notably gentle — zero suspensions for two straight years, compared to a district suspension rate of about 0.28%.

P.S. 038 serves a genuinely mixed student body — Black, Hispanic, and White students each make up about 25%, with Asian students at 14% and Multiracial at 10%. That mix looks noticeably different from the Boerum Hill census profile, where the median household income is $150,272 and 73.3% of adults hold a bachelor's degree. In other words, the school acts as a true cross-neighborhood mixer, drawing families from beyond the immediate affluent blocks. About 15% of students have IEPs, and the economic need index of 46 puts the school in a middle band — not the highest-need, not the lowest.

The school sits in Downtown Brooklyn-DUMBO-Boerum Hill, a neighborhood where the median home value is $1.46 million and only about a quarter of households own their homes — this is largely a renter-and-well-educated-professional area. The 15.5% poverty rate and 15.1% share of households with children hint that families with young kids are a minority here, which is part of why the school draws from a wider catchment than its immediate blocks.

Transit options are excellent. Atlantic Av-Barclays Ctr (D, N, R) is about a five-minute walk, and Nevins St (2, 3, 4, 5) and Hoyt-Schermerhorn Sts (A, C, G) are both around a six-minute walk — practically any commute in Brooklyn or Manhattan is feasible.