At a Glance
An East New York turnaround story, where elementary test scores roughly quadrupled in five years to land well above district averages.
Best suited for
Families zoned for the school who want a small, high-trust elementary with a documented track record of academic gains and are prepared for a longer walk to the subway.
Overall Rating
Rating = average of NY State ELA + math proficiency, grades 3–8
Bands are Motley's thresholds on a 0–100 scale, not New York State performance levels.
How this is scored→What stands out
- Test scores roughly quadrupled from the 2016-2022 lows to 64-67% proficiency by 2025, the strongest turnaround in the area
- 98% parent trust in both teachers and the principal — a rare level of alignment
- 100% of surveyed teachers rate instruction quality positively, with 21 teacher responses
- Zero suspensions in two of the last three recorded years
- Grade 5 students post 79% ELA and 74% math proficiency, well above city norms for that age
Things to consider
- Chronic absenteeism at 59.9% is the most serious number on the page — ask what the school is doing about it, especially for boys and Black students
- The neighborhood is car-dependent, with the nearest 3 train stop a 15-16 minute walk from the building
- With 92.5% economic need and limited PTA dollars per student, enrichment depends heavily on what families and the school can fund out of pocket
- The student body is demographically narrow (35% diversity index) — families seeking a more racially mixed peer group should compare alternatives
- The school's recent high scores follow roughly a decade of weakness, so the gains are real but still relatively new
Based on 2024-25 data
School SummaryDistrict 19
Ethan Allen sits in the top tier of District 19 elementary schools — its overall score of 2.63/4 is well above the district average of 1.94/4 and ahead of most named peers, marking it as a clear standout in a district where many schools still test below average.
Academics
ELA and math proficiency both landed in the mid-60s in 2025 (64.8% and 66.7%), comfortably above district averages of roughly 49% and 48% respectively, with the strongest performance concentrated in the older grades — Grade 5 hit 79% ELA and 74% math. The trajectory is the real headline: scores climbed from single digits and teens in the late 2010s to today's level, with the sharpest gains coming between 2024 and 2025. Five straight years of upward movement make the trend clearly improving rather than a one-year fluke.
Culture
The day-to-day climate looks unusually warm: parents give 94% satisfaction with 98% trust in both teachers and the principal, and every teacher surveyed rated instruction quality at 100%. Discipline is essentially a non-issue, with zero suspensions in two of the last three recorded years. The attendance picture is mixed — 90.9% attendance edges past the district average, but a 59.9% chronic absenteeism rate is a serious flag, and the 10-point gap between boys (55%) and girls (65%) suggests particular groups are struggling to show up consistently.
Community
The student body is 73% Black and 25% Hispanic, reflecting the surrounding East New York-New Lots community more than diversifying it — the school's own diversity index is 35%. With a 92.5% economic need index, most students come from households with limited resources, and 19% receive special education services. This is fundamentally a neighborhood school serving neighborhood kids, with PTA fundraising landing at just $33 per student — well below the district average of $18.50 per student despite higher totals.
Neighborhood
The East New York-New Lots area is a renter-majority neighborhood where only about 29% of households own their homes and median household income sits around $58,000. Roughly one in four residents lives below the poverty line, and just 10.6% of households include children — a relatively low share for a Brooklyn neighborhood. The closest subway access requires a deliberate walk.
The school is beyond easy walking distance of the subway; the nearest stops are Van Siclen Av, New Lots Av, and Pennsylvania Av on the 3 line, each about a 15-16 minute walk on foot.
Academic Performance
ELA Proficiency
Students scoring proficient or above on the NY State ELA exam.
NYC DOE InfoHub · 2022-23
Math Proficiency
Students scoring proficient or above on the NY State Math exam.
NYC DOE InfoHub · 2022-23
Historical Trends
The dashed line marks 2023, when New York changed its grades 3–8 state tests. Scores before and after it aren’t directly comparable.
2020–2021 data unavailable due to COVID-19
Source: NYC DOE School Quality Reports
Survey Results
NYC School Survey (2025) · 150 families responded (64% rate)
Racial & Ethnic Diversity
NYC DOE InfoHub · 2022-23
PTA Fundraising
Source: DOE Local Law 171 disclosure
Discipline
NYSED Student & Educator Database (2023-24)
Economic Need & Special Populations
How to get in, step by step
Pre-K
P.S. 306 Ethan Allen also has Pre-K classes. They're a separate application from kindergarten, made on MySchools.
Pre-K application
Applications typically open in the winter and close in the spring, with offers in late spring; the city announces exact dates each year.
Kindergarten
P.S. 306 Ethan Allen has an attendance zone. At elementary level, in-zone students get a guaranteed seat. Every family still applies on MySchools: the application confirms the zoned seat, and ranking other schools doesn't cost you it.
Kindergarten application
- Opens
- Wed, Dec 9
- Closes
- Fri, Jan 22
- Offers
- Tue, Mar 30
The DOE’s published dates.
- 1Check that your address is inside the zone — zones change, so confirm it before you sign a lease.
- 2Apply during the kindergarten application, even with a zoned seat.
- 3Rank this school along with any others you'd take, in true preference order.
Open houses and tours
We haven’t seen open-house dates for this school yet.
From the MySchools admissions calendar, checked weekly.
Make this school part of your plan
Everything on this page is yours to read. An account keeps your research in one place.
No credit card required
Compare head-to-head
Explore nearby
Frequently Asked Questions
- Is P.S. 306 Ethan Allen a good school?
- On Motley, P.S. 306 Ethan Allen earns an overall rating of 66/100 — the average of the school's New York State ELA and math proficiency, grades 3–8, shown out of 100. Its state test results run above the District 19 average.
- What grades does P.S. 306 Ethan Allen serve?
- P.S. 306 Ethan Allen serves grades Pre-K to 5.
- How do students get into P.S. 306 Ethan Allen?
- P.S. 306 Ethan Allen admits by zone — children who live in its attendance zone get a guaranteed seat.
- Is P.S. 306 Ethan Allen public, charter, or private?
- P.S. 306 Ethan Allen is a public school in NYC Community School District 19.
- What neighborhood is P.S. 306 Ethan Allen in?
- P.S. 306 Ethan Allen is in East New York-New Lots, Brooklyn.