At a Glance
A small Kensington zoned elementary where test scores climbed sharply in 2025 and nearly every teacher says the principal is worth following.
Best suited for
Families who want a small, warm, diverse neighborhood school with a tight staff community — and who are comfortable asking pointed questions about attendance trends before enrolling.
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
- 2025 scores jumped more than 20 percentage points in ELA year-over-year — a dramatic swing worth asking the school about directly
- Teacher-side survey scores are near the ceiling: 99% on instruction quality, 100% trust in the principal, 98% feel safe
- Zero suspensions last year signals a restorative rather than punitive discipline approach
- Small enrollment (312 students) means most families know each other and the staff
- Grade 4 is currently outperforming — its 82.3% ELA proficiency pulls the school's overall average up
Things to consider
- Chronic absenteeism at 79% is the single biggest flag in the data — families should ask how the school is responding to it
- The 2024-to-2025 score jump is steep enough that it could partly reflect cohort effects rather than systemic improvement; ask about trends beyond the headline number
- PTA fundraising ($363 per student) runs below the district average of $491, meaning fewer resources for extras like enrichment or field trips
- Math proficiency (62.3%) is essentially at the district average, not above it — the school's strength right now is reading
- Overall rating (2.64/4) is above district average but trails top District 15 peers like P.S. 321 and P.S. 172
Based on 2024-25 data
School SummaryDistrict 15
District 15 includes some of Brooklyn's strongest zoned elementary schools. P.S. 889's 2.64/4 overall score is above the district average of 2.58, and the school now sits in the middle of the pack — well behind standout peers like P.S. 172 (95/100) and P.S. 321 (90/100), but no longer clearly trailing.
Academics
ELA proficiency landed at 69.5% — above the District 15 average of 65.5% — while math came in at 62.3%, just under the district's 63.3%. The bigger story is the trajectory: ELA moved from 42.9% in 2022 to 49.3% in 2023 to 48.4% in 2024, then jumped to 69.5% in 2025. Math followed a similar pattern, climbing from 42.1% to 62.3%. That is a steep one-year swing that could reflect a stronger Grade 4 cohort, instructional shifts, or both; either way, Grade 4 is now driving the school with 82.3% ELA proficiency.
Culture
The day-to-day feel is warm and trusting: 99% of teachers rate instruction quality positively, 100% trust the principal, 98% feel safe at school, and parents report 96% trust with both teachers and the principal. The school recorded zero suspensions last year and barely any in prior years, pointing to a restorative rather than punitive discipline culture. But chronic absenteeism is striking — 79.3% of students missed enough school to count as chronically absent, well above what most families would expect, even though average daily attendance (92.7%) sits close to the district norm.
Community
P.S. 889's 312 students are notably mixed — about a third White, 28% Black, 20% Hispanic, 17% Asian, and small shares of multiracial and Native American students — earning an 82% diversity index. The economic need index sits at 49.7, consistent with a middle-class mix. Kensington itself shows an $82,763 median income, 12.9% poverty, and 22.1% of households with children under 18 — a family-dense, middle-income pocket of Brooklyn.
Neighborhood
Kensington is a family-dense, middle-income Brooklyn neighborhood where about half of adults hold a bachelor's degree, roughly a third of households own their home, and the median home value is around $871,000. Twenty-two percent of households include children, so there are plenty of school-age neighbors and strollers on the sidewalks. Multiple subway lines serve the area within a short walk, making school commute flexible for most families.
The closest station is Beverley Rd on the Q, about a 7-minute walk, with Fort Hamilton Pkwy (F and G) and Cortelyou Rd (Q) each about a 10-minute walk.
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) · 369 families responded (88% 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. 889 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. 889 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.
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Frequently Asked Questions
- Is P.S. 889 a good school?
- On Motley, P.S. 889 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 in line with the District 15 average.
- What grades does P.S. 889 serve?
- P.S. 889 serves grades Pre-K to 5.
- How do students get into P.S. 889?
- P.S. 889 admits by zone — children who live in its attendance zone get a guaranteed seat.
- Is P.S. 889 public, charter, or private?
- P.S. 889 is a public school in NYC Community School District 15.
- What neighborhood is P.S. 889 in?
- P.S. 889 is in Kensington, Brooklyn.