Urban Assembly School for Leadership and Empowerment

ELA proficiency at 63.9% is now essentially at the district average of 66.2%, a remarkable climb from 40.9% in 2016. Math tells a different story: at 51.9%, the school trails the district's 71.2% by nearly 20 points, with scores dipping as low as 32.7% in 2022 before recovering. Seventh-graders post the strongest scores (73.4% ELA, 56.1% math), while sixth and eighth grade lag behind. The data shows real ELA momentum, but math remains a clear, persistent gap.

Zero suspensions is the headline number — for a school of 535 students in a high-need neighborhood, that's a meaningful statement about how conflict gets handled. Parent-teacher trust sits at 91% and parent satisfaction at 93%, both strong, and teachers rate instruction quality at 90% with solid trust in leadership (85%). The catch is attendance: a 92.9% rate is slightly below the district's 94.2%, and chronic absenteeism of 73.6% means most students miss 10% or more of school days — with Hispanic and White subgroups pushing past 82%. The day-to-day feel is stable and family-connected, but getting students through the door consistently is the climate story here.

The student body is one of the most diverse in the borough — 48% Asian, 19% Hispanic, 19% White, 11% Black — and the school pairs ELL support with AP coursework, an unusual combination that signals they're serving a wide range of academic needs under one roof. An economic need index of 85.1 places this among the higher-need schools in the city, and 15% of students have IEPs. The demographic mix lines up with Borough Park's character as a family-dense, working-class neighborhood with deep cultural ties.

Borough Park is one of Brooklyn's most family-dense neighborhoods — nearly 46% of households include children, the kind of block where school commutes happen on foot. Median household income sits at $52,529 with a 32.8% poverty rate, but home values top $1.16 million, reflecting the area's tight, established housing stock and multigenerational households. Families get around on the F train, which runs directly through the neighborhood and connects to Manhattan and southern Brooklyn.

Ditmas Av (F) is about a 5-minute walk from the school; 18 Av (F) is roughly 10 minutes; Church Av (F and G) is about 13 minutes.