P.S. 115 Daniel Mucatel School

P.S. 115's math proficiency sits just above the district average (62.9% vs 61.4%), and ELA is just under it (56.8% vs 58.4%) — essentially a wash with the rest of District 18. What makes this school interesting is the trend: ELA has climbed roughly 21 points and math roughly 35 points since 2016. Third graders lead the way (64% ELA, 72% math), with fourth and fifth graders still solid but slightly behind. The overall score of 2.39/4 lands exactly at the district average, which means the school is keeping up, not pulling away — but the slope of the line says momentum is real.

The day-to-day feel here is unusually trusting on the parent side: 98% of families trust the principal, 96% trust their teachers, and 98% feel the school has strong relationships with students. The one number that doesn't quite line up is teacher trust in the principal at 75% — that's a gap worth flagging. Teacher-reported safety is 94% (district average 96%), and there were zero suspensions last year, down from a single-digit blip the year before. Attendance is healthy at 91.9%, beating the district average, though chronic absenteeism runs at 69.9%, which is a citywide pattern more than a school-specific one. Families feel heard, but staff culture has some texture to it.

The student body is 81% Black, with smaller shares of White (8%), Hispanic (6%), and Asian (3%) students, and an overall diversity index of 41%. That mirrors Canarsie reasonably well — the neighborhood skews toward Black and Caribbean-American households, many of them long-settled homeowners. With 770 students and an average class size of 22, the school is mid-sized by Brooklyn elementary standards. Seventeen percent of students have IEPs, and the school runs a self-contained special education program, so families looking for that kind of placement have a zoned option here. PTA giving of $63 per student is roughly three times the district average.

Canarsie is a mostly middle-class, mostly homeowner neighborhood — median household income over $82K, about half of households own their homes, and the median home value is around $688K. About 28% of adults have a bachelor's degree, and the poverty rate runs around 13%. Households with kids make up nearly 15% of the area, so there is real demand for local schools. The neighborhood is more car-dependent than much of Brooklyn.

The Canarsie-Rockaway Parkway stop on the L train is the closest subway, about a 17-minute walk from the school. Most families likely drive, walk, or use school buses rather than the train.