Ms 266 Park Place Community Middle School, Brooklyn NY

Original Research by School Decision on Ms 266 Park Place Community Middle School

MS 266 Park Place Community Middle School is a small, regular public middle school in Brooklyn's Park Place neighborhood, serving grades six through eight. The school enrolls a small student body, with roughly comparable numbers in sixth grade and smaller cohorts in seventh and eighth. Nearly all students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, and the enrollment is predominantly Black and Latino, with very small numbers of white and multiracial students.

State test results show mixed performance across subjects and grades. In mathematics, sixth-grade proficiency is very low, seventh grade sits near the midpoint, and eighth grade reaches solid attainment. In English Language Arts, sixth grade is weak, but seventh and eighth grades both reach proficiency for a clear majority of tested students. Eighth-grade science proficiency hovers around the midpoint. Tested students show participation in testing, though not uniformly across grades. The school's overall proficiency index across tested subjects and grades falls below the midpoint relative to other district schools in Kings County, though the data is small in absolute terms given the school's enrollment size.

A parent may want to look further into sixth-grade math results with the school directly, as that cohort's proficiency is notably low and may signal either a specific instructional challenge or, given the small number tested, a data pattern worth understanding in context. By contrast, performance tightens and lifts substantially by eighth grade in both math and ELA, which could reflect grade-level instruction, student growth, or demographic shifts in the tested population.

The school operates within New York City's District 13, which since 2021 has used a lottery-based, screen-free admissions process for all middle schools. This means admission does not depend on test scores or other academic screens; instead, families apply by lottery, with a majority of seats reserved for low-income students and those in temporary housing. The district made this change deliberately as a structural shift toward integration and access. This is the admissions pathway a family would navigate.

Brooklyn itself is a dense, highly walkable urban borough with extensive transit, spanning many distinct neighborhoods. Park Place sits in a well-served urban area with restaurants, shops, and transit access typical of central Brooklyn. Housing values and rents in the broader zip code are substantially above the state median, reflecting Brooklyn's position as a high-demand market. The borough has experienced strong residential growth, with major development ongoing in neighborhoods like Downtown Brooklyn and Williamsburg, alongside established residential blocks and brownstone neighborhoods.

The school's small enrollment and concentrated demographics reflect a particular corner of the district's student population. Student data on English learners and students with IEPs was not available, so a parent asking about supports in those areas should inquire directly with the school. No information was available on programs, extracurriculars, or other pathway offerings beyond state testing, so conversations with the school about what options exist for students beyond core academics would be valuable.

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Academic performance

How students perform on state tests, by grade, set against the district.

Math

Grade 68%

School 8% · District 43% · ▼ 35 pts below district

▼ 37 pts below state median · ▼ 42 pts below county median

Grade 753%

School 53% · District 52% · ▲ 1 pts above district

even with state median · ▼ 5 pts below county median

Grade 864%

School 64% · District 31% · ▲ 33 pts above district

▲ 27 pts above state median · ▲ 24 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 620%

School 20% · District 53% · ▼ 33 pts below district

▼ 26 pts below state median · ▼ 32 pts below county median

Grade 763%

School 63% · District 55% · ▲ 7 pts above district

▲ 15 pts above state median · ▲ 5 pts above county median

Grade 864%

School 64% · District 51% · ▲ 13 pts above district

▲ 16 pts above state median · ▲ 8 pts above county median

Science

Grade 854%

School 54% · District 44% · ▲ 10 pts above district

▲ 21 pts above state median · ▲ 29 pts above county median

Social studies

Grade 851%

School 51% · district not reported

▼ 28 pts below state median · ▲ 8 pts above county median

This schoolNEW YORK CITY GEOGRAPHIC DISTRICT #13, same grade

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.