Original Research by School Decision on Success Academy Charter School - Bensonhurst
Success Academy Charter School - Bensonhurst is a charter elementary school serving grades kindergarten through fourth grade in Brooklyn. The school enrolls a modest population of students, with roughly equal cohorts across each grade level.
The student body is predominantly white, with a substantial representation of Asian students. Black and Hispanic students each make up a smaller share of enrollment. Race and ethnicity data are reported; data on free-or-reduced-price lunch eligibility, students with disabilities, and English learners were not available.
Among the metrics available for comparison with other Kings County districts, the school's chronic absenteeism rate sits above the county's median, meaning a higher share of students are missing school regularly. This is a factor a parent may want to look into further with the school, as chronic absence can affect academic momentum and classroom community. The school's per-pupil spending falls in the lower range among the county's districts.
State assessment results were not available for review, so we cannot characterize how students perform on standardized tests in English language arts and mathematics. This gap may reflect the data that has been reported to the state, or it may indicate a data reporting lag.
The school is part of the Success Academy network, a charter operator with schools across the city. Publicly reported, the network launched a curriculum redesign called the "Moonshot" that took effect in the 2024-25 school year. This is a reverse-engineered overhaul aimed at college preparedness that applies to all grades, including Bensonhurst's K-4 range. Alongside this redesign, the network announced a teacher salary increase, a change that can affect staffing retention and school stability.
For a family considering this school, the key questions are operational: Does the redesigned curriculum align with how your child learns and what you value academically? How do you assess the quality of its implementation as the school settles into the new framework? And on the attendance question, does the school's current absenteeism rate raise concerns worth exploring with staff, or does the school context suggest reasons particular to its enrollment that don't worry you?
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