At a Glance
A high-achieving Gravesend elementary where Asian and white families have built a culture of academic rigor and parent engagement.
Best suited for
Families zoned for or living near Gravesend and Bensonhurst who want a high-performing public elementary with strong parent involvement and are comfortable with the scale of a 1,000-student school.
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
- Math and ELA proficiency both run 18 to 20 points above district averages, with math particularly strong in 5th grade.
- Zero suspensions over three consecutive years — remarkable for a school with nearly 1,000 students.
- Parent satisfaction at 95% paired with a 95% family survey response rate points to unusually engaged families.
- The PTA raises roughly 70% more per student than the district average, translating into real classroom resources.
- Survey trust scores cluster in the high 90s across parent-teacher, parent-principal, and teacher-principal relationships.
Things to consider
- Chronic absenteeism at 83.2% means most students miss 10 or more days a year, even with strong daily attendance — and the rate climbs to 92% among Asian students.
- At 994 students, this is a large elementary, and average class size of 24.6 means most rooms are near capacity.
- Only the D train serves the immediate area, limiting subway options for families coming from elsewhere in Brooklyn.
- Zoned admissions mean families outside the catchment will need to navigate District 21's lottery and waitlist process.
Based on 2024-25 data
School SummaryDistrict 21
P.S. 101 is one of the stronger zoned elementaries in District 21, with an overall score of 3.24 out of 4 — well above the district average of 2.46. While the district's top spots go to selective and charter options like Brooklyn School of Inquiry and Success Academy Bensonhurst, P.S. 101 outpaces elementary peers like P.S. 90 and P.S. 253 on academic outcomes.
Academics
ELA proficiency of 78.3% and math of 83.7% sit roughly 18 and 20 percentage points above District 21 averages. Scores have climbed steadily over the past decade — math rose from 63% in 2016 to 84% in 2025 — with a dip in 2024 before a sharp rebound in 2025. Performance is consistent across grades 3 through 5, with math strongest in 5th grade at 84.1%.
Culture
Survey numbers are about as strong as they come: 100% of teachers report feeling safe, 99% rate instruction quality positively, and parent-teacher trust sits at 98%. Zero suspensions in each of the past three years is striking for a school this size. The chronic absenteeism rate of 83.2% is a real tension, even though daily attendance is a solid 94.4% — the likely explanation is that most families show up consistently, but absences accumulate enough to cross the chronic threshold, a pattern common citywide since the pandemic.
Community
The student body is 54% Asian and 28% White, with 16% Hispanic and just 1% Black — a composition that mirrors the surrounding Gravesend neighborhood and its substantial Chinese and Russian-American communities. With 67.8% of students classified as having economic need, the school serves a working- and middle-class population that doesn't always match the $985K median home value you'd see in gentrifying parts of Brooklyn. About one in five students has an IEP, a fairly typical share for a large District 21 elementary.
Neighborhood
Gravesend (West) sits between Bath Beach and Bensonhurst, a family-dense neighborhood where working- and middle-class households cluster in modest single-family homes and garden apartments. The median household income is $72,102, with about a quarter of households including children — so the area skews family-friendly, even with a 22% poverty rate. Only about 37% of homes are owner-occupied, reflecting a steady rental market alongside longtime Asian- and Eastern European-American homeowner pockets.
Three D train stops serve the immediate area — 25 Av is about a six-minute walk, Bay Pkwy about seven minutes, and 20 Av around 12 minutes — but it's a single line, so families outside Gravesend and Bensonhurst will likely drive or transfer.
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) · 1066 families responded (95% rate)
Racial & Ethnic Diversity
NYC DOE InfoHub · 2022-23
PTA Fundraising
Source: DOE Local Law 171 disclosure
Discipline
NYSED Student & Educator Database (2023-24)
Economic Need & Special Populations
How to get in, step by step
Pre-K
P.S. 101 The Verrazano 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. 101 The Verrazano 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. 101 The Verrazano a good school?
- On Motley, P.S. 101 The Verrazano earns an overall rating of 81/100 — 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 above the District 21 average.
- What grades does P.S. 101 The Verrazano serve?
- P.S. 101 The Verrazano serves grades Pre-K to 5.
- How do students get into P.S. 101 The Verrazano?
- P.S. 101 The Verrazano admits by zone — children who live in its attendance zone get a guaranteed seat.
- Is P.S. 101 The Verrazano public, charter, or private?
- P.S. 101 The Verrazano is a public school in NYC Community School District 21.
- What neighborhood is P.S. 101 The Verrazano in?
- P.S. 101 The Verrazano is in Gravesend (West), Brooklyn.