Benjamin Banneker Academy, Brooklyn NY

Original Research by School Decision on Benjamin Banneker Academy

Benjamin Banneker Academy is a public high school serving grades nine through twelve in Brooklyn's Clinton Hill neighborhood, part of New York City Geographic District 13. The school enrolls roughly eight hundred thirty-five students, with the ninth-grade cohort substantially larger than the upper grades, a pattern common in high schools where some students leave the system before graduation.

The student body is predominantly Black, with a significant Hispanic population and small numbers of students from other racial and ethnic backgrounds. A substantial majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating that the school serves a economically under-resourced community. Data on the school's special education population and English learner enrollment was not available; state testing results and four-year graduation rates were also unavailable, which is typical for schools where such metrics exist in state databases but were not included in the research materials provided. Without these measures, a parent cannot directly assess whether students meet state proficiency benchmarks or what proportion of cohorts complete high school on time.

The school sits in a neighborhood characterized by dense residential blocks and mixed commercial corridors. Brooklyn at large is among the nation's most walkable places, with frequent transit access via subway and bus; Atlantic Terminal, a major regional rail hub, lies a short distance away. Housing values in the school's zip code are substantial, and rents have risen in line with broader borough growth. The neighborhood blends historic brownstone blocks with newer mixed-use development, part of a sustained wave of residential construction across Brooklyn. This context means families considering the school are likely navigating a tight housing market and competing for space in a dense urban neighborhood.

District 13, which includes this school, made system-wide changes to middle-school admissions beginning in 2021, shifting all middle schools to lottery-based, screen-free entry with reserved seats for low-income students and those in temporary housing. While this does not directly govern high school entry, it shapes the pipeline and signals the district's stance on access. More recently, a secondary arts school in the district was truncated from middle grades, removing one arts pathway for younger students, though Benjamin Banneker Academy itself remains a full high school.

Program offerings, staffing, attendance data, and discipline records for the school were not available in the research materials. A parent looking to understand the school's day-to-day environment, course breadth, or graduation pathway would need to seek that information directly from the school or district.

Benjamin Banneker Academy serves a student population with significant economic need in a highly urbanized, transit-rich neighborhood undergoing substantial housing growth. The school's role as a traditional public high school within District 13 means it operates under district admissions and oversight rather than as a selective or alternative school. Without state assessment and graduation data, families cannot benchmark academic performance directly; whether this school fits a family's needs depends on engagement with the school itself, alongside broader considerations about the neighborhood's character and the family's circumstances in Brooklyn's competitive housing and education landscape.

See more original research from School Decision →

Academic performance

How students graduate and prepare for what comes next.

Graduation rate (ACGR)

>=95%Cohort of 156 students · Class of 2021

The federal source publishes a banded range instead of an exact rate when the graduating cohort is small enough that an exact number could risk identifying individual students.

How this school compares to all schools in this state

Each dot is one school’s SY 2020-21 graduation rate, binned by integer rate. Taller columns mean more schools at that rate. This school is highlighted.

1,253 schools plotted. 14 additional schools' rates are federally suppressed and not shown. Data: EDFacts SY 2020-21.

Advanced Placement & IB

19 subjects offered · 2023-24

Each card is one AP or IB subject. The headline number is the share of students scoring 3 or higher on the exam — the threshold for college credit at most universities. The bar below each rate shows the underlying distribution across performance levels.

Score:12· no credit345· extremely well qualified

Math and Computer Science

Calculus AB

20 tested

40.0%

scored 3 or higher

Calculus BC

4 tested

0.0%

scored 3 or higher

Computer Science A

13 tested

15.4%

scored 3 or higher

Computer Science Principles

27 tested · Grade 10

33.3%

scored 3 or higher

Sciences

Biology

18 tested · Grade 10

22.2%

scored 3 or higher

Chemistry

12 tested

41.7%

scored 3 or higher

Environmental Science

20 tested · Grade 10

5.0%

scored 3 or higher

English

Research

10 tested

50.0%

scored 3 or higher

Seminar

22 tested · Grade 10

63.6%

scored 3 or higher

History and Social Sciences

Comparative Government and Politics

9 tested

11.1%

scored 3 or higher

Human Geography

44 tested · Grade 10

36.4%

scored 3 or higher

Macroeconomics

25 tested · Grade 10

80.0%

scored 3 or higher

Psychology

42 tested

16.7%

scored 3 or higher

U.S. History

28 tested · Grade 10

35.7%

scored 3 or higher

Other

Language and Comp

26 tested · Grade 10

26.9%

scored 3 or higher

Literature and Comp

7 tested

57.1%

scored 3 or higher

Studio Art 2d Design

29 tested

41.4%

scored 3 or higher

U S Government and Politics

9 tested

22.2%

scored 3 or higher

World History

18 tested · Grade 10

27.8%

scored 3 or higher

New York Regents Exams

4 courses reported · 2024-25

End-of-course exams required for a New York Regents diploma. Each row shows the cohort size and the share of students scoring at the proficient level or higher.

Course	Students tested	% proficient
Ela	265	84.0%
Social Studies	229	90.0%
Math	205	67.0%
Science	28	21.0%

Graduation rate (ACGR) reflects the federally published Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate for the most recent year available. We refresh this data annually at the close of each academic year in June. The federal source publishes a banded rate (for example, "90-94%") instead of an exact number for cohorts small enough to risk identifying individual students. The state distribution chart, where shown, plots every school in the state with a published rate or band; schools whose rate is federally suppressed are excluded. Where the federal source publishes a band rather than an exact rate, the school is placed within its band using a stable, ID-derived offset, so its position is consistent across visits.