The top reported proficiency rate is 91% in Social studies. The lowest is 22% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Ps 290 Juan Morel Campos
PS 290 Juan Morel Campos sits on Schenck Avenue in the East New York section of Brooklyn, serving pre-kindergarten through fifth grade within New York City Geographic District 19. The school draws from a neighborhood that is predominantly Latino, with a very large share of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch, placing it firmly in the high-need tier of New York City's elementary schools.
On the state's NYSTP assessment, the academic picture is mixed across grades and subjects. Third-grade math is a relative bright spot, with more than half of tested students reaching proficiency, a rate that stands out against the school's other results. Math proficiency in fourth and fifth grade drops considerably, to roughly a third of students or below. English language arts proficiency runs lower still across all three tested grades, with fourth grade sitting below a quarter of students. Fifth-grade science results are the most modest of all tested subjects. Taken together, the school's overall proficiency index places it in the bottom quartile relative to other districts in Kings County, based on the comparison set available. Parents who want to understand whether these patterns reflect recent improvement or longer-term trends should note that multi-year trend data was not available, so the direction of change is unclear. It would be worth asking the school directly. Civil-rights data and chronic absenteeism data were also not available in what was provided.
The school is part of a district that adopted the Wit and Wisdom curriculum as its reading program in the 2023-2024 school year, part of a citywide science-of-reading mandate that standardized literacy instruction across District 19's elementary schools. For families who want to understand what approach the school uses for early literacy, that shift is publicly reported and relevant context. Data on English learner students and students with IEPs was missing from the provided information, which is a meaningful gap given the neighborhood's linguistic diversity; those are questions worth putting directly to the school.
The broader District 19 context matters for families thinking about the longer arc. Publicly reported data shows a growing share of District 19 families opting for charter schools and a declining share of middle-school-aged children enrolling in the district's own middle schools. Families enrolling at PS 290 will want to think ahead about what the middle school transition looks like, as East New York has seen those dynamics shift. On a more constructive note, the district added Bard High School Early College-Brooklyn in East New York for the 2024-2025 school year, an accelerated program letting students earn college credits and an associate degree while completing high school, which represents a new academic pathway in a community where such options had historically been limited.
The surrounding ZIP code carries a housing market that is notably higher than both the New York state and national benchmarks, with home values and rents reflecting Brooklyn's broader pricing pressure. The borough itself is densely built, highly walkable, and transit-rich, characteristics that apply broadly across East New York, where multiple subway lines and bus routes connect residents to the rest of the city without requiring a car. Brooklyn is also in an active growth cycle, with new residential construction spread across multiple neighborhoods, a pattern that could affect both the school's attendance zone and the neighborhood's economic character over the next few years.
No program offerings data was provided for PS 290, so specific enrichment, arts, or extended learning programming at the school level is unknown. Families visiting the school would benefit from asking what structured programs exist beyond core instruction, how the school supports students performing below grade level, and what staff resources are available for children who need additional support.
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