P.S. 399 Stanley Eugene Clark

Proficiency in ELA (31%) and math (30.5%) sits about 30 points below the District 17 averages of roughly 61% and 57%, and the school's overall score of 1.23 out of 4 is about half the district average of 2.36. The trajectory is bouncy rather than directional — ELA peaked at 37.8% in 2022, slid to 22.8% in 2024, and partially rebounded to 31% in 2025, while math climbed from the high teens in the mid-2010s to about 31% in 2025, with a dip in between. By grade, fifth-grade ELA is a relative bright spot at 50%, while third- and fourth-grade ELA hover around 20–24%.

The school's strongest signals are on the trust side: 98% of families say they're satisfied, trust their child's teacher, and trust the principal, and teachers rate instruction quality at 97% — both well above district norms. Teacher-reported safety lands at 98%, and there have been zero suspensions in each of the last three years, which makes for a genuinely calm day-to-day environment. But there are real wrinkles: only 64% of teachers say they trust the principal (though that's from just 13 survey responses), and chronic absenteeism is at 51%, hitting Hispanic students hardest at nearly 61%. Attendance rate of 88.9% sits a couple of points below the district average.

P.S. 399's enrollment is 72% Black and 20% Hispanic, with small Asian (4%) and Native American (3%) populations — a body that broadly mirrors the surrounding East Flatbush-Erasmus neighborhood, one of Brooklyn's predominantly Black working-family enclaves. The economic need index of 81.5 means most students come from low-income households, and 13% of students have IEPs. The diversity index of 47% reflects a fairly concentrated rather than mixed demographic, and PTA fundraising runs about $3 per student — a sliver of the roughly $44 district average — which matters if classroom enrichment depends on parent dollars.

East Flatbush-Erasmus is a working-class, predominantly Black neighborhood where median household income sits around $71,675 and roughly 16% of residents live below the poverty line, with about a third of adults holding a bachelor's degree. Only about 13% of households have children at home, and homeownership is low (17%), so most families are renters navigating a dense block of multi-family housing — though the median home value of about $710,000 reflects Brooklyn's broader market more than local incomes. It's a neighborhood where many families are juggling tight budgets, which helps explain the school's high economic need index.

The 2 and 5 trains stop at Church Avenue about a 5-minute walk away, with Beverly Road (also 2 and 5) about 6 minutes and Winthrop Street about 12 minutes — solid subway access for getting to and from school.