The top reported proficiency rate is 78% in Math. The lowest is 65% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Ps 938
PS 938 sits on Dinsmore Place in the East New York section of Brooklyn, part of New York City Geographic District 19. It serves children from pre-kindergarten through third grade, which means it is a true early-childhood school: the entire arc of the experience here is the foundational years, from a child's first classroom through the end of primary school.
The enrollment is small for a Brooklyn public school, concentrated across pre-K through third grade. The student body is predominantly Hispanic, with Black students making up a meaningful share. The vast majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a figure that places the school firmly in the high-need tier. Data on English learner rates and students with IEPs were not available in what we reviewed, which is worth asking the school about directly, particularly for families whose children receive services.
On state testing, the school only reaches tested grades at third grade and beyond, so the results here come from third grade. On the New York State math assessment, the third-grade class performed at a level that puts the school well above the midpoint among the schools with available data relative to districts in Kings County, and the same pattern holds on the ELA assessment, where performance is strong though somewhat lower than in math. That gap between math and reading is common at this grade level statewide, but parents who want to understand it in detail should ask the school how it tracks early literacy. Fourth-grade results were also available and follow a similar pattern. Taken together, the proficiency picture here is genuinely strong for this community context, sitting in the top quartile relative to districts in Kings County.
One concrete academic change worth knowing: District 19 adopted the Wit and Wisdom reading curriculum beginning in the 2023-2024 school year, as part of the citywide NYC Reads mandate. This replaced the prior approach, under which principals selected their own materials. Wit and Wisdom is built around the science of reading, using sequenced informative and narrative texts. For parents who care about how early literacy instruction is structured, this is now a standardized, research-aligned curriculum district-wide rather than a school-by-school choice.
Because PS 938 ends at third grade, there is no graduation rate and no high school pathway data. That is not a gap in performance; it simply reflects what the school is. Families should plan ahead for the transition to a fourth-grade placement, since the school does not continue past that point. Publicly reported information notes that in District 19, the share of middle-school-aged children enrolling in district middle schools has declined in recent years as charter enrollment has grown, so thinking about the full K-12 pathway from East New York is a practical step even while children are young.
The housing market around this part of Brooklyn reflects borough-wide dynamics. Home values in the zip code are substantially above the New York State median and well above national benchmarks, with year-over-year appreciation continuing at a meaningful pace. Rents are similarly elevated and rising. Brooklyn as a whole is in active development, with publicly reported data pointing to record new residential construction in Downtown Brooklyn and continued building in neighborhoods across the borough.
East New York itself is a dense, walkable corner of the borough, with transit access and the full range of Brooklyn's civic infrastructure within reach, including the Brooklyn Public Library's extensive branch network and multiple subway lines. It is a neighborhood with a strong working-class character and a large Latino community, which reflects directly in who attends PS 938.
Multi-year trend data was not available, so it is not possible to say from this record whether the school's performance has been rising, holding steady, or fluctuating. Program details beyond the district literacy curriculum were also not available. What the data does show is a small, high-need early-childhood school producing above-typical academic results in its tested grades, in a neighborhood context that makes that outcome worth noting.
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