Parkside Preparatory Academy, Brooklyn NY

Original Research by School Decision on Parkside Preparatory Academy

Parkside Preparatory Academy is a public middle school serving sixth through eighth grades in Brooklyn, with about two hundred seventy students. The school sits on Parkside Avenue in the district that covers Central and South Brooklyn, an area with a mix of dense residential neighborhoods and commercial strips, strong transit access, and high walkability.

The student body reflects the demographic makeup of the neighborhoods the school serves. A very substantial majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating significant economic need in the families the school enrolls. The student population is predominantly Black, with a notable Hispanic share and smaller numbers of Asian and white students. Demographic data on students with disabilities and English learners was not available.

On state math assessments, Parkside's proficiency rates sit below where state standard-setters would expect them to be. In sixth grade, about one-third of students perform at proficient level or above. Seventh and eighth graders perform slightly better, at around two-fifths, but this is still below the proficiency threshold many districts achieve. In English language arts, the school shows somewhat stronger performance. Sixth and eighth graders reach about half proficient, while seventh graders fall slightly below at around two-fifths. Science proficiency, measured only at eighth grade, falls to roughly one-third. Across all tested subjects and grades, the school's overall proficiency index places it in the bottom quartile relative to other schools in Kings County. Participation rates on state assessments are high, ranging from the high eighties to high nineties, so these results reflect genuine performance rather than testing gaps.

A parent may want to ask the school directly about its literacy instruction approach, since all district elementary schools have moved to one of three city-mandated reading curriculums focused on phonics and decoding, a shift that shapes how students arrive at the middle level. The school also operates within a district facing sustained enrollment decline over recent years, driven by residential population loss in the neighborhoods it serves. This context has prompted some district reshuffling of buildings and programs, though Parkside itself remains open in its current location.

Brooklyn itself is highly walkable, with extensive transit, dense mixed-use neighborhoods, and strong civic anchors like Prospect Park and the Brooklyn Public Library. The housing market in the zip code is active, with median home values in the mid-range for New York City and modest year-over-year rental growth. The area supports major employers in healthcare and education, including Maimonides Medical Center and SUNY Downstate, alongside city government and a growing tech sector.

In choosing Parkside, a family would be enrolling in a neighborhood school serving a predominantly low-income, mostly Black student population with academic performance below state norms across subjects. The school offers middle-grade education in a walkable urban setting with strong transit connections, but its test data and county-level standing suggest parents should have direct conversations with school leadership about instruction, support services, and the school's approach to boosting proficiency in both literacy and math before enrolling.

See more original research from School Decision →

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	27	74.0%

Math

Grade 634%

School 34% · District 48% · ▼ 14 pts below district

▼ 11 pts below state median · ▼ 16 pts below county median

Grade 744%

School 44% · District 51% · ▼ 8 pts below district

▼ 9 pts below state median · ▼ 15 pts below county median

Grade 842%

School 42% · District 45% · ▼ 3 pts below district

▲ 5 pts above state median · ▲ 2 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 650%

School 50% · District 53% · ▼ 3 pts below district

▲ 4 pts above state median · ▼ 2 pts below county median

Grade 744%

School 44% · District 54% · ▼ 10 pts below district

▼ 3 pts below state median · ▼ 13 pts below county median

Grade 850%

School 50% · District 52% · ▼ 2 pts below district

▲ 2 pts above state median · ▼ 6 pts below county median

Science

Grade 831%

School 31% · District 38% · ▼ 6 pts below district

▼ 2 pts below state median · ▲ 6 pts above county median

Social studies

Grade 89%

School 9% · district not reported

▼ 69 pts below state median · ▼ 33 pts below county median

This schoolNEW YORK CITY GEOGRAPHIC DISTRICT #17, 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 7Lower-income44%Higher-income50%6 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income50%Higher-income50%0 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 7Lower-income44%Higher-income33%11 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income43%Higher-income38%5 pp gap