Original Research by School Decision on Bushwick Ascend Charter School
Bushwick Ascend Charter School is a kindergarten-through-eighth-grade charter school in Brooklyn operated as a single-school district. The school serves a student body of roughly six hundred seventy students, the vast majority of whom are Hispanic, with a much smaller Black population and very few students from other racial or ethnic backgrounds. The school's enrollment is relatively balanced across its grade band, with slightly larger classes in the early elementary and middle school years.
The school sits within Kings County's universe of districts. On chronic absenteeism, Bushwick Ascend performs well, placing in the top quartile among the county's districts; this suggests strong day-to-day attendance and engagement. Per-pupil spending at the school falls in the upper-middle range for the county, slightly above the median for the region.
State assessment data and graduation rates are not available for this entity. Because the school serves only kindergarten through eighth grade, state testing results and four-year graduation rates do not apply; these metrics are collected at higher grade bands. A parent seeking academic proficiency information at this school may want to inquire directly with the school about assessment results or school-level performance data.
The school's governance structure and Title I eligibility status are not documented in available records. Income and special-population enrollment data, including free-or-reduced-price lunch participation, English learner enrollment, and special education enrollment, are similarly not reported, creating gaps in a full picture of the school's student composition beyond race and ethnicity.
Recent changes to curriculum and instruction offer a window into the school's pedagogical direction. Starting in the 2023-24 school year, the Ascend network, which operates Bushwick Ascend, overhauled its literacy instruction to align with the Science of Reading, an evidence-based approach emphasizing systematic phonics, vocabulary, and comprehension. The network implemented Success for All, including Kinder Phonics and FastTrack Phonics, along with the Wilson Reading System. In the same school year, Ascend introduced new mathematics and literacy curriculum across all grades K through 12 at its Brooklyn schools, supported by philanthropic funding and accompanied by new classroom libraries and intensive teacher professional development. For 2024-25, the school adopted the Amplify Science curriculum for elementary and middle grades, a hands-on, inquiry-based program integrated with literacy-rich activities. These shifts represent substantial, network-wide changes to how reading, mathematics, and science are taught.
A parent considering this school should understand that it operates within the Ascend Public Charter Schools network, which has undergone systematic curriculum redesign in recent years. The school's strengths include above-average attendance stability and spending in line with or above the county median. The gaps in available proficiency and special-population data mean a prospective family would benefit from speaking directly with school leadership about how the school serves students with diverse needs and what academic outcomes look like for the grades it serves.
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