Riverdale Avenue Community School

For years this school posted ELA proficiency in the high 20s and math in the low teens — well below district averages. Then the curve bent: 49.5% ELA in 2023, a dip to 43.9% in 2024 (with math climbing to 63.3%), and a strong 66.7% ELA / 64.8% math in 2025. Both subjects now sit comfortably above district averages (52.2% ELA, 50.5% math), and the third graders are doing it most impressively — 84.4% ELA and 90.6% math proficiency suggest the foundation is being laid early. The overall score of 2.63 out of 4.00 is meaningfully above the district average of 2.06.

The adults here give this school rave reviews: 100% of teachers say there's strong collegial trust and report feeling safe, 99% rate instruction quality highly, and parents give principal-trust and teacher-trust scores of 98% and 97% — all well above district averages. The discipline approach is gentle and consistent, with just one suspension in the past three years. The one real concern is chronic absenteeism at 64.4% — meaning roughly two-thirds of students miss 10% or more of school days — which is striking given the otherwise warm picture. That gap between how families feel about the school and how often students actually show up is the climate story parents should know.

Riverdale Avenue serves 291 students, 74% Black and 21% Hispanic, with an economic need index of 90.6% — meaning almost all students come from low-income households. About a fifth of students have IEPs. Brownsville's census profile (median household income around $33,500, more than a third of residents below the poverty line) helps explain those numbers, and the school reflects its neighborhood almost exactly. What's notable is the family engagement: 196 families completed the survey — a 69% response rate — and gave the school unusually high marks.

Brownsville is a high-poverty Brooklyn neighborhood where the median household income sits around $33,500 and more than a third of residents live below the poverty line; homeownership is low (14%) and only 13% of adults have a bachelor's degree. Despite those numbers, the blocks around the school are family-rooted — the school sits on a residential stretch where 3-train stops make the rest of Brooklyn reachable. Parents who send kids here are typically navigating the same economic pressures the data describes, but doing so in a neighborhood where the train is a real lifeline.

The 3 train is the commute — Saratoga Av is about a 4-minute walk, Rockaway Av about 7 minutes, and Sutter Av-Rutland Rd about 12 minutes.