Ps 178 Saint Clair Mckelway, Brooklyn NY

Original Research by School Decision on Ps 178 Saint Clair Mckelway

PS 178 sits in central Brooklyn, in a neighborhood of dense residential blocks and active street life where most families walk to school and shops. The school serves pre-K through eighth grade and draws a student body that is majority Black and Hispanic, with a substantial majority of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch. The enrollment is stable at under a few hundred students across its grade bands.

Academic performance is uneven and shows a sharp drop in proficiency as students advance through middle school. In the elementary grades, results are stronger. Third graders achieve about half proficiency in math and roughly six in ten in English language arts. Fourth grade shows marked improvement, with around seven in ten students meeting proficiency in math and about eight in ten in language arts. By fifth grade, performance drops noticeably. Math proficiency falls to about a third, and English language arts to about three in ten. From sixth grade onward, results are significantly weaker. Sixth-grade math proficiency is very low, and English language arts proficiency reaches zero. Seventh grade shows similar struggles, with math and English language arts proficiency both in the single digits. Eighth grade performance improves slightly, with language arts proficiency at about four in ten and science proficiency at about a quarter, though very few eighth graders took the math test.

When compared against other schools in Kings County that serve similar grades, PS 178's overall proficiency index places it in the bottom quartile. This is a meaningful gap to consider. Science proficiency across tested grades is also weak, with fifth-grade science proficiency at about one in six and eighth-grade science proficiency around a quarter.

The data points to a school where early elementary instruction shows relative strength but where student learning plateaus or declines as children move into upper elementary and especially middle school. A parent may want to look into this further with the school. Understanding what happens between fourth and fifth grade, and what support exists for students in grades six and seven, would be important questions to ask.

The school is part of New York City Geographic District 23, which has been implementing citywide reading and math curriculum mandates that affect daily classroom instruction. District 23 adopted the Into Reading phonics-based curriculum for elementary grades as part of the broader NYC Reads initiative. The district also participates in standardized middle and high school math instruction through NYC Solves, though this school does not serve high school grades.

The district itself has experienced sustained enrollment decline over recent years. PS 178 does not maintain zoned attendance; the district operates on a choice basis across all elementary and middle school grades, so families can apply to schools districtwide rather than being assigned by address.

Brooklyn's housing market shows home values well above state and national benchmarks, and rental costs are also elevated. The neighborhood has active public transit access and is walkable, with shops and services distributed throughout residential blocks rather than concentrated in a distant commercial center. The area has been experiencing significant new residential construction, particularly in nearby Downtown Brooklyn, which may affect the demographic and economic composition of families in the school's enrollment zone over time.

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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	30	23.0%

Math

Grade 350%

School 50% · District 59% · ▼ 9 pts below district

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

Grade 473%

School 73% · District 50% · ▲ 23 pts above district

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

Grade 533%

School 33% · District 39% · ▼ 6 pts below district

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

Grade 617%

School 17% · District 44% · ▼ 27 pts below district

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

Grade 711%

School 11% · District 44% · ▼ 33 pts below district

▼ 42 pts below state median · ▼ 48 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 361%

School 61% · District 56% · ▲ 5 pts above district

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

Grade 485%

School 85% · District 48% · ▲ 37 pts above district

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

Grade 528%

School 28% · District 45% · ▼ 17 pts below district

▼ 26 pts below state median · ▼ 34 pts below county median

Grade 60%

School 0% · District 41% · ▼ 41 pts below district

▼ 46 pts below state median · ▼ 52 pts below county median

Grade 724%

School 24% · District 44% · ▼ 20 pts below district

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

Grade 845%

School 45% · District 40% · ▲ 5 pts above district

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

Science

Grade 517%

School 17% · District 22% · ▼ 4 pts below district

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

Grade 824%

School 24% · District 20% · ▲ 4 pts above district

▼ 9 pts below state median · ▼ 1 pts below county median

Social studies

Grade 566%

School 66% · district not reported

▼ 26 pts below state median · ▼ 16 pts below county median

Grade 837%

School 37% · district not reported

▼ 41 pts below state median · ▼ 6 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.

Proficiency by household income

English language arts

Grade 7Lower-income21%Higher-income40%19 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 7Lower-income13%Higher-income0%12 pp gap