P.S. 261 Zipporiah Mills

ELA proficiency at 66.9% sits just above the district's 65.5%, while math at 61% runs a bit below the 63.3% district average — putting P.S. 261 squarely in the middle of the pack academically. The trajectory has been bumpy: scores dipped in 2022 (the post-COVID hangover year), bounced back in 2023, and have hovered in the high 50s to high 60s since. The clear bright spot is Grade 5 ELA at 75%, well above both the school's own averages and the district's.

P.S. 261 has a striking split between how families and teachers experience the school. Parents report very high trust in teachers (96%), strong relationships (95%), and 90% satisfaction — though that's a touch below the district's 93%. Teachers, however, rate instruction quality at just 78% (district average: 89%) and trust in their principal at 69%, the lowest-trust signal in the survey. The discipline story is unambiguously positive: zero suspensions for three straight years. Daily attendance at 93.7% matches the district, though reported chronic absenteeism runs at 85.2% — with an unusual pattern where white and Asian students show higher rates than Black and Hispanic students at this school, the inverse of the citywide norm.

P.S. 261's 616 students look quite different from a typical District 15 school: 47% white, 19% Black, 18% Hispanic, 10% multiracial, and 6% Asian. The economic need index of 34.2 — well below the citywide average — reflects a relatively affluent family base, though a diversity index of 78% confirms this is still a genuinely mixed school. About one in five students has an IEP, in line with district norms, and the PTA raises $220,000 a year (roughly $357 per student, below the district's $491 average).

The school sits in the Boerum Hill stretch of Downtown Brooklyn, one of Brooklyn's wealthiest and most transit-rich pockets. Median household income tops $150,000 and 73% of adults hold a bachelor's degree, yet only 15% of households include children — meaning the families who do live here tend to be intentional about putting down roots. The mix of brownstones, new condos, and rentals (just 26% own) gives the area a layered character, and the school mirrors that mix in its classrooms.

From the Bergen St station (F and G trains, about 3 minutes on foot), the Hoyt-Schermerhorn stop (A, C, and G, about 5 minutes), or Hoyt St (2 and 3, about 6 minutes) — three subway options within easy walking distance, the best transit access of any nearby elementary.