Is 318 Eugenio Maria De Hostos, Brooklyn NY

Original Research by School Decision on Is 318 Eugenio Maria De Hostos

IS 318 Eugenio Maria de Hostos is a six-through-eight middle school located in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. The school serves just under a thousand students, evenly distributed across the three grades. It is a regular public school, not selective.

The student body reflects the neighborhood: roughly half the enrollment is Hispanic, about a quarter white, a sixth Black, and smaller shares Asian and multiracial. About two-thirds of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating substantial economic need across the enrollment.

The school's test performance on the 2024-25 New York State exams shows a clear pattern: strong results in sixth and seventh grades, but a notable cliff in eighth grade, particularly in math and science. In sixth grade, about two-thirds of students met proficiency in math and roughly three-quarters in English language arts. Seventh grade results improve substantially, with roughly four-fifths of students proficient in both subjects. Eighth grade tells a different story. Math proficiency drops sharply to under a third of tested students, and science proficiency sits at similarly low levels. English language arts remains above three-quarters proficient in eighth grade, so the weakness is concentrated in quantitative subjects at the upper grade.

The participation rates in eighth grade testing are strikingly low: only about a fifth of the grade took the math assessment and only about a seventh took science. This low participation rate raises questions a parent may want to explore directly with the school. Low participation can reflect a range of circumstances, from absences and opt-outs to alternative programs or scheduling that routes some students away from state testing.

Sixth and seventh grade participation is more robust, ranging from two-thirds to four-fifths. The average scale scores in math and English are consistent across grades six and seven but drop in eighth grade.

When compared to other middle schools among the districts in Kings County, IS 318's overall proficiency index places it in the top quartile. This reflects the strength of the lower grades, which pulls the school's average profile above the median.

Brooklyn itself is a large, mixed borough with varied neighborhoods. The area around Walton Street in Williamsburg has seen significant residential growth, particularly in recent years. The neighborhood is highly walkable with dense commercial and residential corridors, strong transit access, and proximity to major cultural anchors like Prospect Park and the Brooklyn Public Library. Housing costs in the 11206 zip code are high and have been rising steadily. The labor market is diverse, anchored by healthcare, education, and a growing technology sector.

District 14, which serves Williamsburg and Greenpoint, has experienced significant enrollment decline over recent years, and the city has accelerated school mergers and consolidations as a response, with a concentration of these changes in Brooklyn. This is a structural reality a family would want to understand: the district is shrinking, which can affect school stability and programming. Additionally, a 2022 state law requires the city to reduce class sizes gradually through the late 2020s, capping middle school classes at twenty-three students, a change that will roll out over time across District 14.

Middle school admissions in New York City moved away from selective screening for the 2021-22 cycle, shifting to lottery-based assignment, though some selective screens have returned at a small share of schools. IS 318 does not appear to be among them, making it part of the regular admissions landscape for families in the district.

For a family considering IS 318, the school presents a mixed profile: students in grades six and seven are meeting proficiency benchmarks in line with schools across the county, and sixth grade shows particular strength. Eighth grade performance, however, raises questions worth discussing with school staff. Whether the participation gap reflects a systematic issue or other factors, and what support and curriculum shape the quantitative drop-off at the upper grade, are questions a parent should pursue. The school operates in a neighborhood with strong pedestrian and transit infrastructure and sits within a district managing enrollment contraction and state-mandated class-size changes.

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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	138	91.0%
Science	138	91.0%
Social Studies	134	99.0%

Math

Grade 663%

School 63% · District 48% · ▲ 15 pts above district

▲ 18 pts above state median · ▲ 13 pts above county median

Grade 783%

School 83% · District 61% · ▲ 22 pts above district

▲ 30 pts above state median · ▲ 25 pts above county median

Grade 830%

School 30% · District 33% · ▼ 3 pts below district

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

English language arts

Grade 678%

School 78% · District 60% · ▲ 18 pts above district

▲ 32 pts above state median · ▲ 26 pts above county median

Grade 783%

School 83% · District 61% · ▲ 22 pts above district

▲ 36 pts above state median · ▲ 26 pts above county median

Grade 876%

School 76% · District 63% · ▲ 13 pts above district

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

Science

Grade 832%

School 32% · District 40% · ▼ 8 pts below district

▼ 1 pts below state median · ▲ 7 pts above county median

This schoolNEW YORK CITY GEOGRAPHIC DISTRICT #14, 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 6Lower-income65%Higher-income94%29 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income68%Higher-income96%27 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income65%Higher-income92%27 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 6Lower-income49%Higher-income79%30 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income66%Higher-income96%29 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income27%Higher-income44%17 pp gap