Summit Academy Charter School

Summit's academic results sit well below District 15 averages. ELA proficiency is 45.7% versus the district's 65.5%, and math is even further behind at 29.7% versus 63.3% — a roughly 34-point gap, meaning Summit's math proficiency is less than half the district norm. Science at 57.7% is the school's strongest subject. Year-to-year scores are highly volatile: ELA swung from 20.6% in 2022 to 55% in 2023 to 38.9% in 2024 before settling at 45.7%, while math spiked to 42.1% in 2024 then dropped back to 29.7% in 2025. That kind of whiplash usually signals instability in instruction or shifts in who is being tested. Within the school, 8th graders hit 60% in ELA while 6th graders sit at 29.4%, a 30-point spread that points to real differences between grade-level cohorts.

There is a sharp split between how families and teachers see this school. Parent satisfaction is 99%, parent-teacher trust is 99%, and parent-principal trust is 97% — all far above the district averages. Teachers are notably less bullish: only 80% rate instruction quality positively (district average 89%) and just 82% trust school leadership. The reported attendance rate of 99.5% is unusually high, but the chronic absenteeism figure of 100% — meaning every single student missed 10% or more of school days — represents a serious and contradictory signal that any family considering this school should ask about directly. With only 18 teachers responding to the staff survey, the teacher voice here is also a thin one.

Summit's 216 students are 59% Hispanic and 36% Black, with very small representation from any other group. The economic need index of 88.9 is one of the highest in the district, and 26% of students have IEPs. None of this resembles the surrounding Carroll Gardens-Cobble Hill-Gowanus-Red Hook neighborhood, where the median home value is $1.7 million and 67.6% of adults hold a bachelor's degree. The school is essentially drawing a high-need, predominantly Black and Hispanic student body from across Brooklyn into a neighborhood whose own families almost certainly aren't using it.

Carroll Gardens-Cobble Hill-Gowanus-Red Hook is one of Brooklyn's more affluent and educated neighborhoods, with a median household income around $140,000, a poverty rate of 13.5%, and a homeownership rate of 31%. About one in five households includes children, reflecting a mix of long-term brownstone families and younger professional renters. Median home values above $1.7 million reflect the desirability of the blocks and ongoing Gowanus-area development.

Subway access requires a real walk — Smith-9 Sts (F, G) and Carroll St (F, G) are each about 12 minutes on foot, with Bergen St (F, G) about 19 minutes away. Most families will drive, bike, or budget the walk