The Academy of Talented Scholars

ELA proficiency of 70.5% and math proficiency of 74.2% both run roughly 10 points above the District 21 averages of about 60% and 63%. The school's overall quality review score of 2.89/4 sits above the district's 2.46 average. Math has been the steadier subject over the past decade, hovering between 65% and 79% proficiency, while ELA has been more volatile — peaking at 80.8% in 2019, dropping to 59.8% in 2024, and rebounding to 70.5% in 2025. By grade, third-graders are the strongest in math (80.3%), and cohorts across grades 3-5 sit within a few points of each other in both subjects.

Surveys paint a notably warm picture of the school's climate: 100% of teacher respondents rated instruction positively, 98% of parents trust both teachers and the principal, and 96% of teachers say the school feels safe. Zero suspensions across three consecutive years suggests a calm, well-managed day-to-day environment. The major flag here is chronic absenteeism: 77.5% of students miss 10% or more of school days, which is very high even by post-pandemic standards — though the basic attendance rate (93.2%) is actually above the district average.

The student body is 57% White, 32% Asian, 7% Hispanic, and 3% Black — a mix that mirrors Gravesend's profile far more than NYC's overall. A quarter of students have IEPs, and an economic need index of 54.5% means about half of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. PTA fundraising runs $101 per student (well above the district's $79), pointing to an engaged parent base — consistent with the strong 66% family survey response rate.

Gravesend (West) is a predominantly working- and middle-class Brooklyn neighborhood — median household income sits around $72,000 and 22% of residents live below the poverty line. Roughly a quarter of households include children, and the 38% homeownership rate points to a stable residential base of mostly single-family homes and small apartment buildings. The neighborhood has a settled, family-oriented feel rather than the renter-heavy churn of busier parts of Brooklyn.

The N train stops at Kings Highway about an 8-minute walk and at Bay Parkway about 9 minutes away, with the D train also at Bay Parkway roughly 11 minutes on foot.