At a Glance
A district-22 elementary on one of Brooklyn's sharpest academic climbs — still catching up to peers but closing the gap fast
Best suited for
Families who want a full Pre-K–8 experience in a tight-knit community, value the school's clear upward momentum, and are comfortable with a longer transit commute.
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
- One of the steepest multi-year academic improvements in District 22 — math scores have tripled since 2016
- Parent satisfaction at 95% is notably higher than the district average, with near-perfect trust scores between families and school leadership
- 30% of students have IEPs, making this a meaningfully inclusive option for families seeking that kind of setting
- Pre-K through 8th grade on a single campus — families don't have to transition for middle school
- An Accelerated/Honors academic track sits alongside standard programming, giving high-performers room to grow
Things to consider
- Teacher-reported safety at 80% is meaningfully below the district's 96% — families should ask what that reflects day-to-day
- Chronic absenteeism at 56% is high and uneven across student groups — consistent attendance is a real hurdle here
- PTA fundraising at just $18 per student is well below the district's $56, which limits what the parent community can fund-raise for
- Program richness score of 35/100 is low — enrichment offerings beyond academics are limited
- Subway commutes are long walks (16–18 minutes) — likely a bus-or-drive family
Based on 2023-24 data
School SummaryDistrict 22
Within District 22, P.S. 109 sits below the district average overall (2.1 vs 2.4) but the trajectory puts it among the faster-improving schools in the borough. Charter and magnet schools in the same district score higher on overall rubrics, but among traditional zoned public schools, this one is gaining ground quickly.
Academics
ELA proficiency at 58% lands just shy of the district average of 61%, and math at 47% sits further behind the district's 60%. But the multi-year picture is the headline: from 2016 to 2025, ELA more than doubled and math tripled — 2025 alone saw a 13-point jump in ELA and a 5-point jump in math. Science proficiency at 21% is a clear weak spot. By grade, 7th graders are leading (77% ELA, 63% math) while middle-school grades overall outperform the lower grades, suggesting the upper-school program is doing real work.
Culture
Family-facing warmth is genuinely strong here — parent satisfaction, parent-teacher trust, and parent-principal trust all sit at 95% or higher — but the staff-side picture is more mixed. Teacher-reported safety at 80% is well below the district's 96%, which is something parents should know about. Attendance at 89% trails the district's 91%, and chronic absenteeism at 56% is high, with Black students at 68% and Asian students at 67% particularly affected. Discipline is light overall (2% suspension rate), though suspensions ticked up from 1 to 10 year-over-year after years near zero.
Community
This school serves a student body that's 77% Black, 14% Hispanic, and 4% Asian, drawn from a neighborhood where median household income is about $75,600 and homeownership runs near 48% — a working- and middle-class pocket of Brooklyn. The economic need index of 76 is high, and 30% of students have IEPs, which is meaningfully above average and worth factoring in. The community is racially less diverse than the city as a whole (diversity index 45) but deeply rooted, with many longtime families.
Neighborhood
East Flatbush-Farragut is a stable, family-oriented pocket of central Brooklyn where about 15% of households include children and roughly 28% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher. Median home values near $669,000 reflect a neighborhood where ownership is achievable but not cheap, and incomes sit squarely in the working-middle range. The area around the school is residential — block after block of attached homes and small apartment buildings — with the commercial corridors of Flatbush and Nostrand a short bus ride away.
Subway access requires a real walk — the Flatbush Av-Brooklyn College station (2, 5) is about 16 minutes on foot and Newkirk Av-Little Haiti (2, 5) about 18 minutes, so most families likely rely on bus or car for the daily trip.
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
Science Proficiency
Students scoring proficient or above on the NY State Science 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) · 265 families responded (52% rate)
Programs & Activities
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. 109 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. 109 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.
Middle school (6th grade)
Middle school is one citywide application, made in 5th grade. P.S. 109 admits through one program, and each one has its own admissions method:
- Glenwood Academy for Science & Technology: Open to Continuing StudentsUnscreened56 seats
Middle school application
- Opened
- Wed, Oct 14
- Closes
- Fri, Dec 11
- Offers
- Wed, Apr 7
The DOE’s published dates.
- 1Apply on MySchools during the middle school application, in 5th grade.
- 2Unscreened programs fill by random lottery among the families who rank them.
- 3Rank programs in true preference order — the match places your child in the highest-ranked one that offers a seat.
Open houses and tours
PS/IS 109 Glenwood Academy Of Culture, Academics, Sports and Arts
Wed, Nov 4, · 5:00 PM · In person
From the MySchools admissions calendar, checked weekly.
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Frequently Asked Questions
- Is P.S. 109 a good school?
- On Motley, P.S. 109 earns an overall rating of 53/100 — 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 22 average.
- What grades does P.S. 109 serve?
- P.S. 109 serves grades Pre-K to 8.
- How do students get into P.S. 109?
- P.S. 109 admits by application through a random lottery, with no academic screen.
- Is P.S. 109 public, charter, or private?
- P.S. 109 is a public school in NYC Community School District 22.
- What neighborhood is P.S. 109 in?
- P.S. 109 is in East Flatbush-Farragut, Brooklyn.