Original Research by School Decision on Lamad Academy Charter School
Lamad Academy is a charter district consisting of a single middle school serving grades six through eight in Brooklyn's Community School District 18. The school opened in 2020 and operates under SUNY authorization. In February 2025, SUNY granted the school a full five-year charter renewal, securing its continued operation through the next charter term. A pending 2026 merger would bring a new early-grades charter school into the organization, though Lamad Academy itself remains a middle-grades-only entity.
The school serves a small enrollment for its grade band, with the student body concentrated in the seventh and eighth grades. The population is predominantly Black, with a substantial share of Hispanic students and smaller numbers of students from other racial and ethnic groups. The school did not report data on free-or-reduced-price lunch eligibility or special populations including students with IEPs and English learners, so a parent would want to contact the school directly to understand its support capacity in those areas.
State assessment results were not available in the data, making it difficult to evaluate current proficiency levels or how students perform relative to district and state benchmarks. The district brief notes that over Lamad's first charter term, the school posted substantial academic growth among returning students, increasing the share scoring proficient in English language arts and mathematics from the 2021-22 school year through 2024-25. The magnitude of that growth was not specified in the available materials, so a parent interested in the school's academic trajectory would benefit from asking the school or SUNY for the specific proficiency improvement figures.
On chronic absenteeism, Lamad's rate places it in the bottom quartile among Kings County's school districts. This is a soft spot worth investigating with the school. Understanding whether this reflects broader patterns in the school's community, whether the school has addressed it in its renewal plan, or what supports the school has in place to engage families around attendance would help a parent weigh fit.
Per-pupil spending at the school is in the lower-middle range for the county, positioning it below the county median. The school's small size means enrollment costs are distributed across fewer students than in a typical district school, which may affect how dollars are deployed.
The school's charter renewal at full term signals organizational stability. The pending expansion into early grades offers families the possibility of a longer pathway if both schools remain open and accessible, though the current Lamad Academy remains a middle school only. A parent considering this school would have a clearer picture of academic performance and support services by contacting the school directly about current state assessment results, special education and English learner services, and the drivers behind the attendance data.
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