Ps/is 155 Nicholas Herkimer, Brooklyn NY

Original Research by School Decision on Ps/is 155 Nicholas Herkimer

PS/IS 155 Nicholas Herkimer is a PreK-8 school serving a very high-need neighborhood in Brooklyn. The enrollment is small to mid-size for its grade band. The great majority of families qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, and the student body is predominantly Hispanic and Black.

Academic performance is weak across the board. In the most recent state testing results, third graders achieved strong proficiency in both math and English language arts, but performance drops sharply starting in fourth grade and never recovers. Fourth-grade math proficiency falls to single digits. Fifth-grade math and English both fall into the low teens. Sixth grade shows modest improvement with math proficiency in the mid-thirties and English in the low twenties. Seventh grade performs somewhat better, with math and English proficiency both in the mid-forties. Eighth-grade English proficiency climbs to the low fifties, but science proficiency that year falls to a quarter of students. Overall, the school's proficiency index places it at the bottom quartile among the county's schools with comparable data.

A parent may want to look into this further with the school: participation rates in the higher grades drop notably, particularly in English sixth grade where only about half of students took the test, and in science at both fifth and eighth grade. The sharp decline from third to fourth grade warrants direct conversation about how instruction transitions between elementary and intermediate grades, what the school is doing to diagnose that drop, and what supports exist for students struggling with that shift.

The school sits in Brooklyn, a dense, highly walkable borough with extensive public transit and numerous neighborhood anchors. The area around the school has seen ongoing residential growth and development. Housing in the school's zip code has appreciated substantially and rents have risen, reflecting broader borough-wide trends. For families already in the neighborhood, the school is accessible by foot or short transit. For those considering relocating to the area, the housing cost context is a significant consideration.

District 23, the school's parent district, has been operating under two major curriculum mandates since 2023. Elementary reading instruction shifted districtwide to Into Reading, a phonics-based curriculum that replaces prior balanced-literacy approaches. Math instruction is also moving toward standardization. These are direct, classroom-level changes. Additionally, the district no longer has zoned elementary or middle schools, meaning all families across District 23 have districtwide choice rather than guaranteed neighborhood seats. The district has also experienced sustained enrollment decline over the past several years, a structural reality that affects school stability and resource deployment.

This school's profile fits families who are geographically rooted in the neighborhood and looking for a local PreK-8 option but who are realistic about the academic challenges and willing to engage closely with the school on instruction and student support. It is not a destination school based on academic strength, and the performance trend should be a primary conversation point before enrollment.

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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	21	48.0%

Math

Grade 376%

School 76% · District 59% · ▲ 17 pts above district

▲ 17 pts above state median · ▲ 6 pts above county median

Grade 46%

School 6% · District 50% · ▼ 45 pts below district

▼ 53 pts below state median · ▼ 61 pts below county median

Grade 514%

School 14% · District 39% · ▼ 26 pts below district

▼ 38 pts below state median · ▼ 44 pts below county median

Grade 639%

School 39% · District 44% · ▼ 5 pts below district

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

Grade 746%

School 46% · District 44% · ▲ 2 pts above district

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

Grade 80%

School 0% · District 23% · ▼ 23 pts below district

▼ 37 pts below state median · ▼ 40 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 375%

School 75% · District 56% · ▲ 19 pts above district

▲ 23 pts above state median · ▲ 11 pts above county median

Grade 420%

School 20% · District 48% · ▼ 28 pts below district

▼ 33 pts below state median · ▼ 42 pts below county median

Grade 522%

School 22% · District 45% · ▼ 23 pts below district

▼ 32 pts below state median · ▼ 39 pts below county median

Grade 623%

School 23% · District 41% · ▼ 18 pts below district

▼ 22 pts below state median · ▼ 29 pts below county median

Grade 725%

School 25% · District 44% · ▼ 19 pts below district

▼ 22 pts below state median · ▼ 32 pts below county median

Grade 853%

School 53% · District 40% · ▲ 13 pts above district

▲ 5 pts above state median · ▼ 3 pts below county median

Science

Grade 519%

School 19% · District 22% · ▼ 3 pts below district

▼ 23 pts below state median · ▼ 21 pts below county median

Grade 825%

School 25% · District 20% · ▲ 5 pts above district

▼ 8 pts below state median · even with county median

Social studies

Grade 571%

School 71% · district not reported

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

Grade 819%

School 19% · district not reported

▼ 60 pts below state median · ▼ 24 pts below county median

This schoolNEW YORK CITY GEOGRAPHIC DISTRICT #23, 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.