Academy of Arts and Letters, Brooklyn NY

Original Research by School Decision on Academy of Arts and Letters

Academy of Arts and Letters is a small public K-8 school in Brooklyn serving families across NYC Geographic District #13, a diverse, densely populated district spanning central and northern Brooklyn. The school sits in the neighborhood of Bedford-Stuyvesant, in a borough where housing costs are rising and new residential development continues to accelerate, particularly in nearby Downtown Brooklyn.

The school's academic profile shows strength in the early elementary grades and a marked dip in the upper middle grades. In Grade 3, student proficiency in reading reaches a solid level, and mathematics proficiency is high. By Grade 4, mathematics proficiency drops notably, and that pattern holds through the middle grades. Sixth- and seventh-grade students show moderate to decent proficiency in both reading and mathematics, but Grade 8 mathematics proficiency is quite low. In reading, Grade 8 performance is stronger. Science results are limited to tested grades; in Grade 5 science proficiency is in the mid-range, while Grade 8 science proficiency is high, which offers a bright spot at the end of the school's span.

The school's test participation is generally strong, with most grades showing high engagement in testing. One exception is Grade 8 mathematics, where participation dropped substantially, which means that the low proficiency rate for that grade should be read with some caution about who was tested.

The student body is racially and ethnically diverse, with representation across Black, white, Hispanic, and Asian students, as well as other backgrounds. A meaningful share of the school's families qualify for free or reduced lunch, reflecting the income mix of the neighborhoods the school serves. Enrollment is distributed across all grades, with slightly larger classes in the middle grades.

Academy of Arts and Letters is part of a district that has made deliberate changes to school access and admissions. In 2021, all District 13 middle schools moved to screen-free, lottery-based admissions with reserved seats for students from low-income families and those in temporary housing. More recently, in 2020-2021, the school itself merged with another school to form Arts and Letters K-8 United, though the data here reflects the school under its current name. This merger represents a significant structural change to school options in that part of the district. Parents considering the school should understand these shifts in admissions and school structure as part of the landscape.

Compared to the other district schools in Kings County, this school's overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades places it in the top tier. That said, the pattern of declining performance as students move through the middle grades is a feature worth probing directly with the school about curriculum progression, instructional support, and any factors affecting older students' achievement. A parent may want to look into what the school offers to address that trend and what transitions students make after Grade 8.

The neighborhood and borough context matters too. Brooklyn as a whole is walkable and well-served by transit, with dense residential blocks and active street life in most areas. Housing values and rents have been rising, and residential construction is active, particularly in Downtown Brooklyn. The school's location in Bedford-Stuyvesant sits within that broader growth pattern. The wider economic context includes a strong jobs market in healthcare, higher education, and technology, though families' access to those opportunities varies by neighborhood and background.

For a family considering this school, the main questions center on what support it provides for the middle-grades academic dip, what its arts focus (reflected in its name) looks like in practice, and how the recent merger has affected school culture and programming. The school's early-grade strength and diverse student body are solid foundations; understanding the middle-grade performance pattern will help a family decide if this is the right fit.

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Academic performance

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

New York Regents Exams

1 course 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
Math	55	73.0%

Math

Grade 387%

School 87% · District 71% · ▲ 16 pts above district

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

Grade 455%

School 55% · District 64% · ▼ 9 pts below district

▼ 3 pts below state median · ▼ 12 pts below county median

Grade 557%

School 57% · District 53% · ▲ 4 pts above district

▲ 5 pts above state median · ▼ 1 pts below county median

Grade 659%

School 59% · District 43% · ▲ 17 pts above district

▲ 14 pts above state median · ▲ 9 pts above county median

Grade 768%

School 68% · District 52% · ▲ 17 pts above district

▲ 15 pts above state median · ▲ 10 pts above county median

Grade 830%

School 30% · District 31% · ▼ 1 pts below district

▼ 7 pts below state median · ▼ 10 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 383%

School 83% · District 72% · ▲ 10 pts above district

▲ 31 pts above state median · ▲ 18 pts above county median

Grade 473%

School 73% · District 68% · ▲ 5 pts above district

▲ 20 pts above state median · ▲ 11 pts above county median

Grade 574%

School 74% · District 63% · ▲ 11 pts above district

▲ 20 pts above state median · ▲ 12 pts above county median

Grade 670%

School 70% · District 53% · ▲ 17 pts above district

▲ 24 pts above state median · ▲ 18 pts above county median

Grade 767%

School 67% · District 55% · ▲ 12 pts above district

▲ 20 pts above state median · ▲ 10 pts above county median

Grade 877%

School 77% · District 51% · ▲ 25 pts above district

▲ 28 pts above state median · ▲ 20 pts above county median

Science

Grade 564%

School 64% · District 47% · ▲ 18 pts above district

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

Grade 881%

School 81% · District 44% · ▲ 37 pts above district

▲ 47 pts above state median · ▲ 56 pts above county median

Social studies

Grade 861%

School 61% · district not reported

▼ 17 pts below state median · ▲ 19 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.

Proficiency by household income

English language arts

Grade 3Lower-income30%Higher-income93%63 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income47%Higher-income81%34 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income53%Higher-income83%30 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income57%Higher-income80%23 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income46%Higher-income95%49 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income70%Higher-income82%13 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income44%Higher-income94%50 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income41%Higher-income59%18 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income14%Higher-income75%61 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income25%Higher-income87%62 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income47%Higher-income92%46 pp gap