P.S. 329 Surfside

P.S. 329's 2025 results show a dramatic jump — ELA proficiency nearly tripled from 15.8% to 38.8% and math climbed from 14.5% to 42.5%, after years of scores hovering between 14% and 24%. Even with that gain, the school sits roughly 21 points below district averages in both subjects (district ELA ~60%, math ~63%), and its 1.63/4 overall score is well under the district's 2.46 average. Grade 3 posted the strongest results (50% ELA, 47% math), noticeably ahead of grades 4 and 5. Whether the 2025 jump reflects a sustained turnaround or a one-year shift is the open question — but the trajectory on paper is clearly improving.

The school-survey results are the upside here: 95% of parents trust both teachers and the principal, and teachers gave perfect scores on "strong relationships" and "instruction quality" (100% each) — rare marks in any school. Teacher-reported safety sits at 94%, just under the district's 96.8% average. Discipline is calm, with only 3 suspensions last year (1% rate), though that ticked up from zero in 2022-23. The big concern is attendance: an 86.6% rate is well below the district's 91.2%, and 45.7% of students qualify as chronically absent — hitting female students (51.5%) and Hispanic students (47.2%) hardest. Read together, this feels like a close-knit community school where families and staff are aligned, but where getting kids in the door consistently remains a real challenge.

P.S. 329's 331 students are predominantly Black (56%) and Hispanic (27%), with a noteworthy 9% Native American enrollment — an unusual share for a Brooklyn elementary. About a quarter of students (23%) have IEPs. The surrounding neighborhood skews low-income, with a median household income around $44,000 and a 27.8% poverty rate, and those economic pressures surface in the PTA's fundraising totals — just $1,323 this year, or roughly $4 per student, compared to a district average of about $79 per student. Limited enrichment dollars are a real consequence of that gap.

Coney Island-Sea Gate is a neighborhood where only about one in ten households has children — relatively low family density for a school zone. The median household income sits near $44,000 with a 27.8% poverty rate, and homeownership is just 28.6% despite a median home value around $886,000, reflecting the area's mix of co-op towers and rental housing along the peninsula. The 35.6% bachelor's-degree rate gives a mixed picture of educational attainment. Families here largely rely on the Coney Island-Stillwell Av terminal — the area's main transit hub — to reach P.S. 329, which is a meaningful walk from the school.

Families reach P.S. 329 on foot from Coney Island-Stillwell Av (D, F, N, Q), about a 16-minute walk — the only subway access in the area.