At a Glance
A large, family-trusted elementary on Staten Island where warm relationships outpace test results
Best suited for
Families in the zoned area who want a large, relationship-driven school with steadily improving academics and are prepared to actively support attendance.
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
- Parent-teacher and parent-principal trust both land in the high 90s — among the strongest you'll find at a large elementary.
- Teachers give the school's relationships and instruction quality perfect marks (100% each).
- A real, measurable academic climb: state-test proficiency has roughly doubled since 2016.
- Near-zero discipline footprint in a school of nearly 600 kids.
- One in four students receives special education services, reflecting an inclusive approach.
Things to consider
- Test scores in both ELA and math remain well below district averages, and the climb is gradual rather than dramatic.
- Chronic absenteeism at 44.6% is a serious flag — almost half of students miss enough school to qualify.
- Only 73% of teachers describe the school as safe, a notable gap from the district norm of 95%.
- No subway access within a 20-minute walk means daily commutes are car- or bus-dependent.
- The family survey response rate was only 14%, so the glowing parent numbers come from a relatively small sample.
Based on 2024-25 data
School SummaryDistrict 31
Among District 31's six profiled peer elementary schools, P.S. 044 sits at the bottom by overall score, with peer schools like P.S. 35 and Naples Street Elementary operating at a very different academic level.
Academics
ELA proficiency sits at 19.5% and math at 20.6%, both roughly 40 percentage points below the District 31 averages of about 61% in each subject. But the trajectory tells the better part of the story: in 2016 those numbers were 10.2% and 9.2%, so proficiency has effectively doubled over the past decade, with 2025 marking the school's highest combined scores on record. The grade-by-grade breakdown is revealing too — Grade 3 proficiency is in the low double digits while Grade 4 jumps to 25% in ELA and 29.6% in math, suggesting that students who stay at P.S. 044 make meaningful gains by upper elementary.
Culture
Day-to-day relationships are the school's quiet superpower — 100% of teachers and 97% of parents say strong relationships define the building, and parent-principal trust at 96% is well above what most schools post. Chronic absenteeism is the genuine headwind: 44.6% of students are chronically absent, roughly double what you'd typically expect, and only 73% of teachers describe the environment as safe, a real gap from the district's 94.8%. Discipline is essentially a non-issue — one suspension in three years and zero in 2022-23.
Community
P.S. 044's enrollment is 49% Hispanic and 38% Black, with smaller Asian, White, and multiracial groups making up the rest, in a neighborhood where two-thirds of households are homeowners earning a median income just above $85,000. The school's economic need index of 89.7% confirms that most students arrive from households under real financial pressure. A quarter of students have IEPs, well above the citywide norm, pointing to an inclusive approach to special education.
Neighborhood
The Mariner's Harbor-Arlington-Graniteville area is a predominantly homeowner corner of Staten Island — about 65% of homes are owner-occupied, with a median value near $435,000 and a 15% poverty rate that sits below the citywide figure. Roughly one in five households includes children, and over a quarter of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher. Getting around here is firmly car- and bus-dependent rather than transit-oriented.
The school is beyond walking distance of any subway station, so families typically arrive by car, school bus, or local bus routes.
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
The dashed line marks 2023, when New York changed its grades 3–8 state tests. Scores before and after it aren’t directly comparable.
2020–2021 data unavailable due to COVID-19
Source: NYC DOE School Quality Reports
Survey Results
NYC School Survey (2025) · 67 families responded (14% rate)
Racial & Ethnic Diversity
NYC DOE InfoHub · 2022-23
Discipline
NYSED Student & Educator Database (2023-24)
Economic Need & Special Populations
How to get in, step by step
Pre-K
P.S. 044 Thomas C. Brown 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. 044 Thomas C. Brown has an attendance zone. At elementary level, in-zone students get a guaranteed seat. Every family still applies on MySchools: the application confirms the zoned seat, and ranking other schools doesn't cost you it.
Kindergarten application
- Opens
- Wed, Dec 9
- Closes
- Fri, Jan 22
- Offers
- Tue, Mar 30
The DOE’s published dates.
- 1Check that your address is inside the zone — zones change, so confirm it before you sign a lease.
- 2Apply during the kindergarten application, even with a zoned seat.
- 3Rank this school along with 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. 044 Thomas C. Brown a good school?
- On Motley, P.S. 044 Thomas C. Brown earns an overall rating of 20/100 — 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 31 average.
- What grades does P.S. 044 Thomas C. Brown serve?
- P.S. 044 Thomas C. Brown serves grades Pre-K to 5.
- How do students get into P.S. 044 Thomas C. Brown?
- P.S. 044 Thomas C. Brown admits by zone — children who live in its attendance zone get a guaranteed seat.
- Is P.S. 044 Thomas C. Brown public, charter, or private?
- P.S. 044 Thomas C. Brown is a public school in NYC Community School District 31.
- What neighborhood is P.S. 044 Thomas C. Brown in?
- P.S. 044 Thomas C. Brown is in Mariner's Harbor-Arlington-Graniteville, Staten Island.