P.S. 046 Edward C. Blum

Proficiency sits at 30.4% in ELA and 35.5% in math — meaningfully below the district averages of 53% and 46% respectively. The longer trajectory is rough: math proficiency fell from 27.8% in 2016 to just 12.3% in 2024, and ELA slid from 26.6% to 14.3% over the same period. But 2025 shows a striking rebound in both subjects, the largest year-over-year jump in the dataset, which suggests real instructional change rather than noise. Within the building, Grade 5 math (17.2%) lags considerably behind Grade 4 (51.9%), so the upper-grade transition is worth asking about.

The day-to-day feel is unusually warm from the parent side: 98% parent-teacher trust and 97% report strong relationships, even though families only completed 144 surveys (a 54% response rate). The teacher picture is more complicated — only 70% rate instruction quality as strong (vs. district average 88%), and teacher-reported safety at 81% is well below the 96% district norm, with just 15 teachers responding. Attendance is the biggest red flag: only 80.5% of students attend regularly and a third are chronically absent, far worse than the 89% district average. Discipline is minimal — one suspension all year — which is a quiet but real positive.

The student body is roughly 89% Black and Hispanic, with small White, Asian, and multiracial populations — a far more working-class and Black/Hispanic profile than the Fort Greene census figures would suggest. The school's 77% economic need index is sharply higher than the neighborhood's 17% poverty rate, meaning PS 046 draws from across zone lines and serves many families who are not the typical Fort Greene resident. Twenty-three percent of students have IEPs, which is meaningfully higher than most zoned schools, and PTA fundraising is just $7 per student — a tiny fraction of the district's $438 average.

Fort Greene is a predominantly renter neighborhood with a median household income over $112,000 and nearly 59% of adults holding a bachelor's degree, but only 13% of households include children — so the school-age population here is small and selective. The area has a low homeownership rate (21%) and a high median home price (over $1.1 million), reflecting the brownstone-and-condo reality of much of central Fort Greene. Families getting to PS 046 are spread across the area, and only 13% of neighborhood households have kids at home, which helps explain the school's modest enrollment.

The closest subway options are Clinton-Washington Avs and Fulton St on the G train, each about 11–12 minutes on foot, and Lafayette Av on the C train, also around a 12-minute walk — a fairly long hike for most families, especially with little kids.