P.S./I.S. 157 The Benjamin Franklin Health & Science Academy

At 39% ELA proficiency and 23.2% in math, scores sit well below the District 14 averages of ~62% and ~59% — students here are catching up, not leading. The honest good news is the trajectory: ELA proficiency climbed from 12.2% in 2017 to 39% in 2025, and math more than doubled from 8.8% in 2017 to 29.1% in 2024. The 2025 math dip to 23.2% is worth watching, and Grade 8 math at 7.9% is a serious outlier that pulls down the schoolwide number. With a science proficiency of 41.4% and an overall score of 1.24/4 (vs. the district's 2.44), this is a school still building toward district norms but heading in a clear upward direction.

The trust numbers here are unusually strong for a school with these academic results: parent-principal trust is 100%, parent-teacher trust 99%, and 97% of families say they're satisfied. Teachers report instructional quality at 96% (above the district's ~93%) and feel strongly supported by leadership. The day-to-day reality parents should know: attendance is 76% — about 13 points below the district average — and a quarter of students are chronically absent, with Black students at 35.1%. Discipline is mild (1% suspension rate, only 3 suspensions in 2023–24), and the building culture leans restorative rather than punitive, but getting kids physically present is clearly the community's biggest daily challenge.

Three-quarters of the 298 students identify as Hispanic, with another 21% Black — a student body that reflects Bed-Stuy's working-class, immigrant-rooted character more than its gentrifying image. The Economic Need Index of 82.5% and 29% of students with IEPs tell you this is a high-need campus serving kids who often arrive with extra challenges. ELL Support is on offer for English learners. The school's unscreened admissions means every neighborhood family who chooses it gets a seat, and the program richness score of 100/100 — coding, robotics, hydroponics, debate, theater, gardening — is the kind of menu you'd usually expect at a much larger or better-resourced school.

Bedford-Stuyvesant (West) is a neighborhood where homeownership is rare (around 20%) and about 28% of households live below the poverty line, while nearly half of adults hold a bachelor's degree — a place with deep working-class roots alongside a growing professional class. About 16% of households have children, so families with school-age kids are a meaningful but not dominant presence on the block. Median home values well over $1.2 million reflect how much the area has changed in a decade, even as longtime renters anchor the community.

The school is about a 10-minute walk from the Classon Av G stop, an 11-minute walk from Bedford-Nostrand Avs (G), and roughly 13 minutes from Clinton-Washington Avs (G) — manageable on foot but not exactly around the corner, so most families plan ahead or use a bus for the last leg.