P.S. 209 Margaret Mead

The 2025 numbers are the best this school has posted since at least 2016, with 58.2% of students hitting proficiency in ELA and 60.5% in math. That's still a touch below the district averages of about 60% ELA and 63% math, but the trajectory is clearly upward. Math is particularly encouraging, climbing from a 2022 low of 41.8% to its current level. By grade, the older students are pulling the averages up — eighth graders hit 75.5% in math and 68.1% in ELA, while third graders are still catching up. The story here is a school that's been quietly building toward proficiency rather than leading the pack.

Survey numbers paint a strikingly positive picture of the school's internal life: 97% of parents trust their teacher, 98% rate instruction as high quality, and 100% of teachers say they feel safe — well above the district average of about 97%. Discipline is essentially a non-issue, with only two suspensions recorded last year. The one major flag is chronic absenteeism at 72.8%, meaning more than two-thirds of students miss enough school to be flagged. This sits against an average daily attendance rate of 92.3%, which is actually slightly above the district average — a reminder that chronic absenteeism captures the tail, not the typical kid. The day-to-day feel, based on what teachers and families report, is one of a tight-knit community where adults trust each other and kids show up.

The student body looks like a cross-section of Gravesend's immigrant-rooted, mixed-income population: 42% White, 28% Asian, and 25% Hispanic, with very few Black students. With a diversity index of 70%, it's more mixed than many Brooklyn zoned schools but less so than the citywide average. Twenty-one percent of students have IEPs, and the economic need index of 65.3% reflects a solidly working- and middle-class community. PTA fundraising runs about $86 per student, a bit above the district average of $78, which suggests engaged families despite the demographic mix.

Gravesend is a middle-income, family-rooted Brooklyn neighborhood with a median household income of about $58,000, a 20% poverty rate, and a 35% rate of adults with a bachelor's degree. About 18% of households have kids, and roughly 37% of homes are owner-occupied — a mix of long-term residents and newer arrivals, with a strong presence of immigrant and first-generation families. The $630,000 median home value puts it in reach for many middle-class buyers, though not exactly cheap.

Families who live within the zone can walk, but the nearest subway is Sheepshead Bay on the B and Q lines, about an eight-minute walk away. Brighton Beach (B, Q) and Neck Road (Q) are also within roughly 13 to 14 minutes on foot.