P.S. 181 Brooklyn

Math proficiency at P.S. 181 has nearly tripled over the past decade, rising from 13.1% in 2016 to 44.9% in 2025 — a genuinely unusual trajectory and the strongest signal in the data. ELA proficiency, at 33.7%, has also roughly doubled since 2016 but still sits well below the district average of about 60.5%. Math (44.9%) likewise trails the district average of 57.3%, though the gap is closing. In other words, this is a school where students are catching up faster than peers, but they are still catching up. Grade-by-grade, eighth graders post the strongest math numbers (55.4%) while fifth graders have the most uneven year (only 14.9% math proficiency), suggesting results may swing depending on cohort.

The day-to-day feel at P.S. 181 is unusually warm relative to its test scores. Teacher-to-principal trust sits at 98%, parent-teacher trust at 94%, and parent-principal trust at 96% — all of which top the district's already healthy averages. Teacher-reported safety is 96% (above the district average of ~95%), and the survey flags 'strong relationships' at a near-perfect 100%. Parent satisfaction itself is 88%, slightly below the district's 91%, but the gap is small. Suspensions are rare — only 5 last year, a rate of about 1% — and they have been flat (not escalating) for three years. The one serious climate flag is that chronic absenteeism runs at 69.3%, meaning roughly seven in ten students miss enough school to be flagged as chronically absent. That number is high and shows up across nearly every demographic group, not just one.

The student body is 86% Black, 9% Hispanic, 2% Asian, 2% White, and 1% Native American, with a diversity index of 31 — meaning the school is not internally diverse so much as reflective of the surrounding East Flatbush neighborhood. About 18% of students are classified as English Language Learners, and 17% have IEPs, meaning roughly a third of the school receives some form of additional academic support. The economic need index of 77.7 (out of 100) places the school well above the citywide average for poverty concentration.

The school sits in East Flatbush-Erasmus, a working- and middle-class stretch of central Brooklyn. Median household income in the area is around $71,675, with a 15.8% poverty rate and a 33.1% share of adults holding a bachelor's degree. Most families rent — homeownership is just 17.4% — and only about 12.7% of households in the census area have children under 18, which is low for NYC. Median home values, around $710,327, reflect the neighborhood's tilt toward multi-family and small apartment buildings rather than single-family owners. Translation: a dense, family-friendly, rent-heavy pocket of Brooklyn where many households are non-family households, but the schools draw from a stable local population.

Three subway options sit within a roughly 12-minute walk or less: the 2/5 trains at Beverly Road and Church Avenue (both about a 6-minute walk), and the 2/5 at Newkirk Avenue–Little Haiti (about 12 minutes). With multiple stops on the same line, commute planning is straightforward for families coming from nearby.