P.S. 255 Barbara Reing School

The 2025 numbers represent a meaningful leap — ELA proficiency jumped from 53.7% to 68.5% and math from 63.4% to 72.2%, both now comfortably above district averages of roughly 61% ELA and 60% math. For most of the past decade, P.S. 255 tracked near or slightly below those district averages, so this jump reads as a genuine shift rather than noise. The grade-level breakdown follows a familiar pattern: Grade 3 leads at 75.8% ELA and 83.6% math, with performance softening but staying well above district norms in Grades 4 and 5.

The school's climate reads as warm and tight-knit. Parent satisfaction (95%), parent-teacher trust (98%), and parent-principal trust (98%) are all unusually high, and 99% of teachers rate instruction quality as high — a rare staff-confidence signal. Discipline is essentially a non-issue, with zero suspensions across three consecutive years, and 96% of teachers describe the school as safe. The wrinkle is chronic absenteeism at 65.6%, which is genuinely high even by city standards, even though the daily attendance rate of 91.4% sits exactly at the district average.

P.S. 255's student body is 55% white and 27% Asian, with smaller Hispanic (12%) and Black (3%) populations — a more homogeneous mix than the citywide average, though the diversity index of 64% reflects real variation across the building. The economic need index of 72.6% signals that a sizable share of families qualify for free lunch, even as 18% of students have IEPs. The surrounding Madison neighborhood skews middle-class with a median household income around $75K and a 42% college-educated rate, suggesting many families are working-class professionals rather than recent arrivals.

Madison is a residential pocket of southern Brooklyn where most blocks are lined with modest single-family homes and small apartment buildings, and 19.9% of households include children — a notably family-dense slice of the borough. Median household income sits around $75K with 42% of adults holding a bachelor's degree, and homeownership is just under half, which speaks to long-term roots rather than transient renters. The neighborhood runs quieter than the busier commercial strips a few avenues over, with most errands requiring either a car or a subway ride.

Three nearby stations give families reasonable subway access: Kings Hwy (B, Q) about a 7-minute walk, Avenue U (Q) about 8 minutes, and Neck Rd (Q) about 13 minutes.