Ps 204 Vince Lombardi, Brooklyn NY

Original Research by School Decision on Ps 204 Vince Lombardi

PS 204 Vince Lombardi serves pre-K through fifth grade in Brooklyn's Sunset Park neighborhood, in a district notable for high demand and heavy use of academic screening at the middle school level. The school draws families in a neighborhood characterized by mixed residential and commercial blocks along major retail corridors and formerly industrial waterfront areas in transition.

The school enrolls around a thousand students across its grade band, with a notably diverse racial and ethnic composition. Just over half the student body is Asian, followed by a substantial Hispanic enrollment and smaller shares of white and other students. A substantial majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, situating the school in a lower-income neighborhood even as Brooklyn's housing values have grown sharply.

Math proficiency is the school's stronger performance area. Across tested grades three through five, math proficiency runs consistently in the low to mid-seventies. Fifth grade performs slightly above third and fourth grades on math. English language arts proficiency is somewhat lower, ranging from the mid-sixties across grades three and four to the low seventies in fifth grade. Fifth-grade science proficiency sits lower still, at just under sixty percent. The school's results sit in the top quartile for overall proficiency when compared with other schools across the county's districts, a notable position.

Testing participation rates are generally strong across subjects and grades, mostly in the mid-to-high nineties, suggesting consistent engagement with the state assessment system.

Instructional programming includes band and theater, anchoring an arts and music presence that extends beyond core academics. Details on other enrichment, specialized pathways, or support services were not available from the data provided.

The school operates as a regular public school within District 20, which has undergone significant structural changes in recent years. The district expanded academic screening dramatically at the middle school level, more than quadrupling screened programs between 2022 and 2023 and becoming home to roughly a quarter of the city's academically screened middle schools. This shift shapes how families in the district think about their children's academic progression. Additionally, three new public schools opened in the district in fall 2024, adding hundreds of seats to relieve longstanding overcrowding that had characterized the area. These openings directly affect class sizes and seat availability for families entering the school system now.

Housing in the school's zip code has appreciated substantially in recent years. Median home values are significantly above both state and national benchmarks, and rents have climbed as well, reflecting Brooklyn's position as a major growth and development area. Downtown Brooklyn in particular has been the city's top neighborhood for new residential construction, with large mixed-use projects transforming formerly commercial or industrial blocks. The broader neighborhood texture remains walkable and transit-connected, with dense residential blocks interspersed with retail and commercial streets.

A parent considering PS 204 should view it as a school with solid foundational math performance, working in an undersaturated district capacity that is now expanding, in a rapidly developing neighborhood where housing costs have climbed. The district's shift toward screening at middle school entry means families here are navigating a more competitive transition at that stage.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 372%

School 72% · District 75% · ▼ 3 pts below district

▲ 13 pts above state median · ▲ 1 pts above county median

Grade 471%

School 71% · District 74% · ▼ 2 pts below district

▲ 13 pts above state median · ▲ 5 pts above county median

Grade 574%

School 74% · District 71% · ▲ 2 pts above district

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

English language arts

Grade 365%

School 65% · District 67% · ▼ 2 pts below district

▲ 13 pts above state median · even with county median

Grade 465%

School 65% · District 67% · ▼ 1 pts below district

▲ 13 pts above state median · ▲ 3 pts above county median

Grade 571%

School 71% · District 69% · ▲ 2 pts above district

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

Science

Grade 558%

School 58% · District 58%

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

Social studies

Grade 578%

School 78% · district not reported

▼ 14 pts below state median · ▼ 4 pts below 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-income62%Higher-income75%13 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income62%Higher-income79%16 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income67%Higher-income87%20 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income68%Higher-income90%22 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income68%Higher-income84%16 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income71%Higher-income82%11 pp gap