Ms 61 Dr Gladstone H Atwell, Brooklyn NY

Original Research by School Decision on Ms 61 Dr Gladstone H Atwell

MS 61 Dr Gladstone H Atwell is a middle school serving grades six through eight in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. The school enrolls a student body that is predominantly Black, with a substantial share of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch. The neighborhood sits on a dense, walkable residential block in central Brooklyn, close to transit hubs and within the borough's established community infrastructure.

Academic performance at MS 61 shows a pattern of decline across grades. In grade six, students performed at roughly the middle range in mathematics and lower-middle in English language arts. By grade seven, mathematics proficiency dropped noticeably, while ELA held roughly steady. In grade eight, the sharpest declines appear: mathematics proficiency fell to its lowest point across the grade band, and science proficiency remained quite low. ELA in grade eight represents the strongest grade-level result the school shows, at about half of students meeting state standards. The trend suggests increasing difficulty as students progress, with mathematics presenting the most persistent challenge.

When compared against the broader set of middle schools in Kings County, MS 61's overall proficiency index places it in the bottom quartile. The school is notably below the county median and well below the highest-performing schools in the county. This reflects the cumulative effect of the grade-by-grade results and positions the school among the lower-performing districts in its home county.

District 17, which oversees the school, has been implementing significant structural changes. The district adopted mandatory, science-of-reading curricula starting in 2024 across all elementary schools, a lasting shift in how children are taught early literacy. The state has also mandated that NYC schools reduce class sizes over time, capping middle school classes at twenty-three students by 2027-28. These represent ongoing shifts in the district's approach to instruction and classroom structure that will affect all schools including this one.

The district has experienced sustained enrollment decline, driven primarily by residential population loss. This has created thousands of excess seats across the district and prompted relocations and co-locations of schools, signaling possible future consolidation. Such district-level pressures are relevant context for families considering stability and resource allocation in years ahead.

A parent considering this school would want to understand that the school shows lower achievement, particularly in mathematics and science, with performance gaps that widen as students advance through the middle grades. The strong ELA result in grade eight suggests the school has capacity in literacy instruction, but achievement across the full profile falls short of county norms. Families might also want to look into whether the school offers tutoring, summer programming, or other supports to help students in struggling subjects, as well as the qualifications of the mathematics and science teaching teams.

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Academic performance

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

New York Regents Exams

3 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
Math	19	47.0%
Social Studies	14	86.0%
Ela	13	62.0%

Math

Grade 664%

School 64% · District 48% · ▲ 16 pts above district

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

Grade 740%

School 40% · District 51% · ▼ 11 pts below district

▼ 13 pts below state median · ▼ 19 pts below county median

Grade 825%

School 25% · District 45% · ▼ 21 pts below district

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

English language arts

Grade 644%

School 44% · District 53% · ▼ 9 pts below district

▼ 2 pts below state median · ▼ 8 pts below county median

Grade 745%

School 45% · District 54% · ▼ 9 pts below district

▼ 2 pts below state median · ▼ 12 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 820%

School 20% · District 38% · ▼ 17 pts below district

▼ 13 pts below state median · ▼ 5 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-income46%Higher-income38%9 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income45%Higher-income75%30 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 7Lower-income40%Higher-income38%2 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income23%Higher-income33%11 pp gap