P.S. 372 -The Children's School

Because 100% of students have IEPs, academic outcomes here are reported differently than at mainstream peers — proficiency comparisons aren't apples-to-apples. What is reported is a teacher instruction quality rating of 87%, a touch below the district average of 89%. The school's strength isn't measured by ranking against selective-enrollment programs; it's in the depth of resources poured into supporting every learner and the integration of special-needs and general-education students in shared classrooms.

The day-to-day climate is calm and high-trust between families and teachers. One hundred percent of teachers report feeling safe, parent-teacher trust sits at 96%, and there were zero suspensions last year — well below the district's 0.28% average. The one wrinkle worth flagging: teacher-principal trust is at 78%, a notable gap compared to the 92% parent-principal trust rating. That suggests teachers and the principal may not always see eye-to-eye, while families feel well-heard by leadership. Survey response rates are modest (21% of families, just 18 teachers), which is common at small schools but means the data reflects a narrower slice of the community.

The student body is meaningfully more diverse than the surrounding neighborhood alone would predict. About 39% of students are white, 23% Hispanic, 19% Black, 12% Asian, with a diversity index of 82%. The Carroll Gardens-Cobble Hill-Gowanus-Red Hook area is heavily white and affluent, but the school draws a more economically and racially mixed population than its census tract would suggest — the economic need index of 51.6 means roughly half of students come from low-income households, even in a neighborhood where the median household income tops $139,000.

The school sits in Carroll Gardens-Cobble Hill-Gowanus-Red Hook, a Brooklyn neighborhood where median household income is around $140,000 and median home values approach $1.7 million. About one in five households have children, two-thirds of adults hold a bachelor's degree, and homeownership sits at 31%. It's a neighborhood of resourced, educated, civically engaged families — and that profile shows up directly in how the school is funded and staffed.

The R train at Union Street is about a 3-minute walk, with the R also stopping at 4 Av-9 St (8 minutes) and the F and G at 4 Av-9 St (10 minutes). For most families in this neighborhood, getting to school is genuinely walkable.