Sunset Park Avenues Elementary School

Both ELA and math proficiency jumped notably in 2025 — ELA from the mid-30s to 45.6% and math from the low 30s to 47.5% — which is the best single-year move this school has posted in the seven years of data on file. Even so, both subjects sit roughly 16-20 percentage points below the District 15 averages of about 65% ELA and 63% math. By grade, third and fourth graders are outperforming fifth graders (3rd grade ELA 48.7%, math 57.9%), suggesting that the upper-grade scores may be pulling the school's overall number down. The long-run trajectory is clearly improving, but the starting line was low.

Parents are unusually enthusiastic: 94% satisfaction, 98% parent-teacher trust, and 100% report strong relationships with teachers — all at or above district averages. Teachers give their own principal a 77% trust rating, which is decent but lower than the family-side numbers, hinting at a school where parents and the front office are aligned even if some staff reserve judgment about leadership. There have been no suspensions in any of the last three years, and every teacher surveyed called the building safe. The big flag is chronic absenteeism at 68.4% — more than two-thirds of students missed enough school to count as chronically absent, well above what's typical citywide.

The student body is 78% Hispanic, 13% White, 8% Asian, and 1% Black, with 21% of students having IEPs and an economic need index of 77 — meaning a high share of students come from low-income households. That mix mirrors Sunset Park's broader profile, where the median household income sits around $81,000 and about 17% of residents live below the poverty line, but the school draws almost entirely from the immigrant and working-class families that define this stretch of the neighborhood. PTA fundraising totals just $23 per student — a small fraction of the district's roughly $491 per-student average — which tells you something about how much extra money flows through this school.

Sunset Park (West) is a densely settled, working- and middle-class pocket of Brooklyn where about one in five households has children, roughly a third of adults hold a bachelor's degree, and most residents rent rather than own — the homeownership rate is just 25%. Median household income lands in the low $80,000s and the poverty rate sits at 17%, which is a noticeably more working-class profile than the borough as a whole. The neighborhood is well-served by transit: the 45 St R stop is about a 3-minute walk from the school, the 36 St D/N/R is roughly 9 minutes, and the 53 St R is about 10 minutes.

Families can reach the school in about 3 minutes from the 45 St (R) stop, or in roughly 9-10 minutes from the 36 St (D, N, R) and 53 St (R) stations.