P.S. 147 Isaac Remsen

Both ELA (86.7%) and Math (77.4%) proficiency landed well above the District 14 averages of 62% and 59%, and the school's overall score of 3.28 out of 4 sits comfortably above the district's 2.44 average. That said, the historical pattern is bumpy: ELA hovered in the 35-49% range from 2016 through 2024 before this year's 86.7% reading, and Math swung from a high of 48.4% in 2018 down to 23.1% in 2022. The single-year jump in 2025 is dramatic enough that parents should ask what's behind it — a new curriculum, a new assessment, or genuine acceleration — because the prior eight years show real volatility. Class size of 21.6 matches the district average, so the gains aren't coming from smaller-than-average cohorts.

The survey portrait here is unusually strong: 97% parent satisfaction, 97% parent-teacher trust, 96% parent-principal trust, and 100% of families reporting strong relationships with teachers. Teachers report 92% on instruction quality, 95% collegial trust, and 94% safety — slightly below the district's 96.8% safety average but still a comfortable number. Zero suspensions across 2021-22, 2022-23, and 2023-24 is meaningful for a school serving a high-need population. The one real flag is chronic absenteeism at 45.3% — well above the district norm — and it's notably higher among girls (52.3%) than boys (40%), which is worth asking the school about. Attendance rate of 88.3% sits just under the district's 88.9% average.

The student body is 58% Hispanic, 20% Black, 9% multi-racial, 8% White, and 6% Asian, with a diversity index of 68% — more concentrated than many Brooklyn zoned schools but reflective of East Williamsburg's mix. About a quarter of students (25%) have IEPs, and the economic need index of 79.9% means four out of five students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. PTA fundraising comes in at just $71 per student, less than two-thirds of the district average of $123, which usually tracks with how strapped the parent base is. Family survey responses came from 47 households, a 30% response rate that suggests engaged but not deeply resourced families.

East Williamsburg is a working-class, increasingly gentrified corner of Brooklyn with a median household income of $81,788 and a 24.3% poverty rate — a neighborhood where longtime families sit alongside newcomers. The 12.5% homeownership rate is low and the $1,048,275 median home value reflects serious market pressure, while only 9.2% of households have children under 18, which means many of the kids at P.S. 147 are coming from a relatively small pool of family households in the area. The 44.1% bachelor's-degree rate is higher than the citywide average, suggesting parents here are split between credentialed renters and long-standing working-class families.

Three subway options sit within a roughly 4-to-8-minute walk: the L at Montrose Avenue (about 4 minutes), the L at Morgan Avenue (about 7 minutes), and the M/J at Flushing Avenue (about 8 minutes).