P.S. 189 The Bilingual Center

ELA proficiency of 53.5% and math proficiency of 51.3% both land below the district averages of 60.5% and 57.3%, putting P.S. 189 in the bottom half of District 17. Scores have been bouncing within a narrow band since 2016 — ELA in the high 40s to high 50s, math swinging more widely from a low of 38.1% in 2022 to 58.4% in 2016 — without a clear upward or downward trajectory. The grade-level picture is uneven: Grade 3 leads the school (64.2% ELA, 68.8% math) while Grade 5 math at 26.2% is a real weak spot. Science proficiency at 45.3% rounds out a profile that is consistent but not leading.

The adults in this building like it: parent satisfaction sits at 90% (about even with the district), but parent trust in teachers and in the principal is 95%, and teachers give the principal a 98% trust score and rate instruction quality at 95% — well above the district's 89%. Discipline is unusually quiet, with just three suspensions in 2023-24, down from nine the year before. The number parents should weigh carefully is chronic absenteeism at 61.7%, meaning more than six in ten students missed enough school to be flagged. Asian students (70.8%) and Black students (66.9%) were absent at higher rates than Hispanic peers (50.5%).

P.S. 189's 899 students are 69% Black and 23% Hispanic, with smaller Asian, White, multiracial, and Native American shares — a student body that mirrors the Black and Caribbean character of the surrounding neighborhood. The economic need index of 81.8 signals a high share of students from low-income households, and 16% of students have individualized education programs. The PTA raised just $8,883 last year, roughly $10 per student compared to the district's $44 per student average, which means enrichment here leans heavily on what the school funds internally rather than on parent fundraising.

East Flatbush-Remsen Village is a predominantly renter neighborhood with a median household income around $57,600, a poverty rate near 19%, and just 9% of households including children — a sign that families with school-age kids are a noticeable but not dominant share of the area. About one in five adult residents holds a bachelor's degree, and most homes are worth close to $690,000 even with the renter-heavy profile. The community has a strong Caribbean and African-American cultural fabric that shows up in the school's demographics.

The 3 train at Sutter Avenue-Rutland Road is about a 4-minute walk; the 3 and 4 at Crown Heights-Utica Avenue is around 10 minutes; the 3 at Saratoga Avenue is roughly 11 minutes on foot.