Ps 163 Bath Beach, Brooklyn NY - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Ps 163 Bath Beach

PS 163 Bath Beach sits on Bay 14th Street in the Bath Beach section of southwestern Brooklyn, serving kindergarten through eighth grade within New York City Geographic District 20. It is a mid-sized neighborhood public school by New York City standards, drawing from a community where Hispanic and Asian students together make up a strong majority of the enrollment, with a sizable share of white students as well. A very large portion of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting the economic profile of the surrounding neighborhood. Data on English learners and students with IEPs were not available in the data provided.

The academic results on the New York State Testing Program are a clear strength. Across math from third through seventh grade, the school's proficiency rates are consistently high, with most grades landing well above what families would typically see across the city. ELA results follow a similar pattern through grades three, five, and seven, with third-grade ELA in particular reaching an exceptionally high rate. Fifth-grade science is also strong. When the school's overall proficiency index is placed against districts in Kings County, PS 163 sits in the top quartile, which is a meaningful position in a county with over a hundred districts. That standing reflects real academic output, not just a favorable demographic mix on paper.

Eighth grade is where the picture shifts. Both math and science proficiency in eighth grade fall noticeably below the school's own performance in earlier grades. ELA in eighth grade is also lower than the school's seventh-grade result, though not dramatically so. The math and science gaps in eighth grade are large enough that a parent with a child approaching that year may want to ask the school directly about curriculum, staffing, and preparation for high school-level coursework.

One note on the testing data: participation rates in several grades are below what state guidelines would consider full participation. Lower participation can affect how proficiency rates should be read, since students who opt out of testing may not be evenly distributed by performance level. This is worth keeping in mind when interpreting the results, and the school is the right place to ask about testing policies.

The district context matters here. District 20 has, publicly reported, dramatically expanded academically screened admissions programs at the middle school level over the past few years, becoming home to a disproportionately large share of the city's selective middle school seats. Families in the catchment zone now navigate a more competitive middle school admissions environment than existed even a few years ago, which shapes how the upper grades of a K-8 school like PS 163 fit into longer-term planning. Separately, three new schools opened in the district in fall 2024 specifically to address severe overcrowding, with additional seat capacity continuing to be added. That expansion is relevant for families thinking about class sizes and school availability as the area continues to grow.

Bath Beach itself is a low-key residential corner of southwestern Brooklyn, walkable and transit-connected in the way that most of Brooklyn is, though it sits farther from the borough's denser commercial corridors than neighborhoods like Sunset Park or Bay Ridge. The local housing market is expensive relative to state and national benchmarks, with home values and rents both running well above New York State averages and continuing to climb, though the pace of appreciation here has been somewhat more moderate than in some of Brooklyn's more rapidly transforming neighborhoods.

Graduation rate does not apply to PS 163, as the school serves only through eighth grade.

For a family seeking a neighborhood public school with strong tested academic results through the middle grades, a diverse peer group, and access to one of Brooklyn's more active district environments, PS 163 presents a compelling case. The eighth-grade performance pattern and the evolving district admissions landscape are the two areas where closer scrutiny before enrolling makes the most sense.

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Academic performance

How students perform on state tests, by grade, set against the district.

New York Regents Exams

2 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	23	100.0%
Science	23	100.0%

Math

Grade 388%

School 88% · District 75% · ▲ 13 pts above district

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

Grade 483%

School 83% · District 74% · ▲ 9 pts above district

▲ 24 pts above state median · ▲ 16 pts above county median

Grade 588%

School 88% · District 71% · ▲ 16 pts above district

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

Grade 678%

School 78% · District 69% · ▲ 10 pts above district

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

Grade 791%

School 91% · District 74% · ▲ 17 pts above district

▲ 39 pts above state median · ▲ 33 pts above county median

Grade 864%

School 64% · District 70% · ▼ 6 pts below district

▲ 27 pts above state median · ▲ 24 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 395%

School 95% · District 67% · ▲ 28 pts above district

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

Grade 469%

School 69% · District 67% · ▲ 2 pts above district

▲ 16 pts above state median · ▲ 7 pts above county median

Grade 584%

School 84% · District 69% · ▲ 14 pts above district

▲ 29 pts above state median · ▲ 22 pts above county median

Grade 675%

School 75% · District 65% · ▲ 10 pts above district

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

Grade 788%

School 88% · District 69% · ▲ 19 pts above district

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

Grade 866%

School 66% · District 67% · ▼ 1 pts below district

▲ 18 pts above state median · ▲ 10 pts above county median

Science

Grade 596%

School 96% · District 58% · ▲ 38 pts above district

▲ 54 pts above state median · ▲ 56 pts above county median

Grade 851%

School 51% · District 61% · ▼ 9 pts below district

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

Social studies

Grade 590%

School 90% · district not reported

▼ 1 pts below state median · ▲ 8 pts above county median

This schoolNEW YORK CITY GEOGRAPHIC DISTRICT #20, 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 3Lower-income93%Higher-income100%7 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income63%Higher-income100%38 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income85%Higher-income80%5 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income70%Higher-income100%30 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income61%Higher-income90%29 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income84%Higher-income100%16 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income79%Higher-income100%21 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income85%Higher-income100%15 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income75%Higher-income100%25 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income61%Higher-income80%19 pp gap