Ps 90 Edna Cohen School, Brooklyn NY

Original Research by School Decision on Ps 90 Edna Cohen School

PS 90 Edna Cohen School is a regular public elementary school serving prekindergarten through fifth grade in the Coney Island area of Brooklyn. The school enrolls a small student population within its grade band, with nearly all students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch and a student body that is roughly half Hispanic, with substantial Black and Asian enrollment and smaller white and multiracial populations.

The school's test results show solid math proficiency across grades three through five, with proficiency rates in the low-to-mid eighties in each tested grade. English language arts results are stronger in the upper grades, particularly in fifth grade where proficiency is notably higher, while third-grade ELA performance lags behind math at roughly two-thirds. Fifth-grade science proficiency sits just above the midline at around half, an area where a parent may want to look into further with the school what science instruction and resources look like. The school's overall proficiency index places it in the top quartile among public elementary schools in the county, a genuine strength that reflects consistent performance across the subjects tested.

State testing data for grades below third and for social studies are not available; third and fourth grades are only tested in ELA and math under New York's current assessment schedule, while science testing begins in grade five.

Brooklyn itself is highly walkable and dense, with active street life in most neighborhoods and extensive transit access. Coney Island, where this school is located, sits in southwest Brooklyn near the ocean and is known for its boardwalk and recreational waterfront, though the residential areas mix older housing stock with some newer development. The broader borough has seen significant residential construction in recent years, particularly Downtown Brooklyn and Williamsburg, though not uniformly across all neighborhoods. Housing values in the 11224 zip code remain somewhat below the state benchmark and well below neighborhoods farther north in Brooklyn, reflecting the southwest location.

The school operates within New York City Public Schools, which has recently mandated standardized literacy and math curriculums across all elementary and middle schools. All elementary schools, including this one, must now use one of three city-approved reading programs aligned with the science of reading. This represents a shift away from school-by-school curriculum choice toward city-level standardization in how foundational skills are taught.

The school's small enrollment and high rates of economic need are central facts about its student population and peer environment. A parent choosing this school is selecting an economically disadvantaged, densely Hispanic and Black school serving a neighborhood population with substantial housing cost burden. The school's proficiency outcomes are strong relative to its county peers, which may reflect effective instruction, community stability, or composition effects, but the testing data alone does not reveal which.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 384%

School 84% · District 67% · ▲ 17 pts above district

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

Grade 483%

School 83% · District 63% · ▲ 20 pts above district

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

Grade 583%

School 83% · District 61% · ▲ 22 pts above district

▲ 32 pts above state median · ▲ 25 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 366%

School 66% · District 59% · ▲ 7 pts above district

▲ 14 pts above state median · ▲ 2 pts above county median

Grade 475%

School 75% · District 57% · ▲ 18 pts above district

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

Grade 588%

School 88% · District 61% · ▲ 26 pts above district

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

Science

Grade 553%

School 53% · District 46% · ▲ 7 pts above district

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

Social studies

Grade 573%

School 73% · district not reported

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

This schoolNEW YORK CITY GEOGRAPHIC DISTRICT #21, 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.