Motley
District 1515

The School of Creativity and Innovation

736 48 Street

At a Glance

A small Sunset Park elementary where math leads, families are deeply engaged, and trust runs unusually high.

Best suited for

Families who want a small, culturally rooted school with deeply engaged parents and strong math instruction, and who don't mind a longer walk to transit or below-district-average ELA results.

Overall Rating

65
Approaching
Not MeetingApproachingMeetingExceeding
ELA60.2
Math69.6

Rating = average of NY State ELA + math proficiency, grades 3–8

Bands are Motley's thresholds on a 0–100 scale, not New York State performance levels.

How this is scored→

What stands out

  • Parent-teacher trust at 99% — exceptionally rare in NYC schools
  • Math proficiency roughly 6 points above the district average
  • Zero suspensions for three consecutive years
  • Family survey response rate of 85%, signaling unusually deep parent engagement
  • Teacher-reported safety at 99% paired with a 95% instructional quality rating

Things to consider

  • ELA proficiency trails the district average by about 5 points, with Grade 3 ELA at just 50%
  • Chronic absenteeism is reported at 78.6% — a figure parents should ask the school about directly
  • Small enrollment of 167 students means fewer peers and a narrower range of programs than larger schools
  • No subway stop is closer than an 11-minute walk; car, bus, or a long stroller commute is likely
  • With 23% of students on IEPs, families seeking special education services should ask about in-house offerings

Based on 2025 data

School SummaryDistrict 15

The School of Creativity and Innovation sits at the district average on the overall quality score (2.6/4 vs. 2.58), but it trails the district's top performers like P.S. 172 Beacon School of Excellence and P.S. 321 William Penn. Its math results are stronger than most peers, while ELA is more middle-of-the-pack.

Academics

Improving

Math is the clear bright spot: 69.6% proficiency is meaningfully above the district average of 63.3%. ELA at 60.2% trails the district average of 65.5% — a gap worth noting. Both subjects dipped in 2024 (ELA to 54.2%, Math to 58.1%) before rebounding sharply in 2025, suggesting real instructional recovery. The school's overall quality score of 2.6/4 lands right at the district average of 2.58, but the pattern by grade is telling: Grade 5 leads the way at 75.7% ELA and 70.3% Math, while Grade 3 ELA sits at just 50% — indicating the school tends to grow stronger as students move up.

Culture

strong

The trust numbers here are striking: parent-teacher trust at 99%, parent-principal trust at 98%, and 100% of respondents saying the school maintains strong relationships. Teachers rate instruction quality at 95% and safety at 99%, both well above district averages. Discipline is essentially a non-issue — zero suspensions for three straight years. Daily attendance at 94% edges out the district average. The one thing parents should know: chronic absenteeism is reported at 78.6%, a very high figure, meaning many students are missing significant school time even as the broader climate feels warm and orderly.

Community

The student body is roughly 47% Hispanic and 42% Asian, with smaller groups of White, multiracial, and Black students — a near-mirror of Sunset Park's demographic mix. An economic need index of 81.9% signals that most families qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, and 23% of students have IEPs, a notable inclusion population. The diversity index of 57% reflects a school that is meaningfully mixed without being maximally so.

Neighborhood

Sunset Park (Central)

Sunset Park is a family-dense, working-class Brooklyn neighborhood where about a quarter of households include children and the median household income is around $61,191. Roughly 23% of residents live below the poverty line and about 20% hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while homeownership sits at 26% and median home values top $1 million — a sign of how much the area has shifted. The blocks around the school are heavily Latino and Asian, giving the neighborhood a distinctly bilingual, multigenerational feel.

The 45 St (R) and 53 St (R) stops and the Fort Hamilton Pkwy (D) stop are each about an 11-minute walk, so most families will need a stroller-friendly route or a short bus ride — this is not a quick subway-hop school for most.

Academic Performance

ELA Proficiency

60.2%

Students scoring proficient or above on the NY State ELA exam.

NYC DOE InfoHub · 2022-23

Math Proficiency

69.6%

Students scoring proficient or above on the NY State Math exam.

NYC DOE InfoHub · 2022-23

Historical Trends

ELA Math

2020–2021 data unavailable due to COVID-19

Source: NYC DOE School Quality Reports

Survey Results

Family Feedback
Satisfaction
96%
Teacher Trust
99%
Principal Trust
98%
Relationships
100%
Teacher Perspective
Instruction
95%
Principal Trust
94%
Collegial Trust
92%
Safety
99%

NYC School Survey (2025) · 264 families responded (85% rate)

Racial & Ethnic Diversity

Moderate
47%Hispanic/Latino
5%White
42%Asian
4%Multi-Racial

NYC DOE InfoHub · 2022-23

Discipline

0suspensions (0% of students)
3-Year Trend— Stable
21
22
23

NYSED Student & Educator Database (2023-24)

Economic Need & Special Populations

Economic Need Index
81.9%
IEP Students
22.8%

How to get in, step by step

Pre-K

The School of Creativity and Innovation also has Pre-K classes. They're a separate application from kindergarten, made on MySchools.

Pre-K application

Applications typically open in the winter and close in the spring, with offers in late spring; the city announces exact dates each year.

Kindergarten

The School of Creativity and Innovation doesn't have an attendance zone of its own, so living nearby doesn't guarantee a seat here. Families apply on MySchools, and seats go to the school's priority groups first, then by random lottery.

Kindergarten application

Opens
Wed, Dec 9
Closes
Fri, Jan 22
Offers
Tue, Mar 30

The DOE’s published dates.

  1. 1Apply on MySchools during the kindergarten application.
  2. 2Rank this school with your zoned school, if you have one, and any others you'd take — in true preference order.

Open houses and tours

We haven’t seen open-house dates for this school yet.

From the MySchools admissions calendar, checked weekly.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Is The School of Creativity and Innovation a good school?
On Motley, The School of Creativity and Innovation earns an overall rating of 65/100 — the average of the school's New York State ELA and math proficiency, grades 3–8, shown out of 100. Its state test results run in line with the District 15 average.
What grades does The School of Creativity and Innovation serve?
The School of Creativity and Innovation serves grades Pre-K to 5.
Is The School of Creativity and Innovation public, charter, or private?
The School of Creativity and Innovation is a public school in NYC Community School District 15.
What neighborhood is The School of Creativity and Innovation in?
The School of Creativity and Innovation is in Sunset Park (Central), Brooklyn.