The top reported proficiency rate is 64% in Math. The lowest is 51% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Coney Island Preparatory Public Charter School
Coney Island Preparatory Public Charter School sits in the 11224 zip code of Brooklyn, on West Avenue in the Coney Island neighborhood of southwest Brooklyn. It runs kindergarten through twelfth grade, making it one of the relatively rare charter networks to offer a continuous K-12 pathway in a single system. Publicly reported information describes four separate campuses: a lower elementary serving the early grades, an upper elementary for grades three through five, a middle school, and a high school. A family that enrolls a kindergartner through the lottery is, in effect, entering a pathway that could carry a child through graduation, though seats narrow considerably by high school because most students who begin younger stay on. Admission gives priority to siblings of current students, to residents of District 21, and to English language learners, so a family's connection to the neighborhood or the network does matter at the enrollment stage.
The student body is large relative to many charter schools. An overwhelming share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, placing this squarely in a high-need community context. Black and Hispanic students together make up a large majority of enrollment, with a meaningful white and Asian presence as well. IEP and English learner rates were not available in the data provided.
On the New York State assessments, Coney Island Prep's overall proficiency picture is a genuine strength when measured against its neighbors. Across tested grades and subjects, the school's combined proficiency index places it in the top quartile relative to districts in Kings County, where the data covers a field of more than a hundred entities. That positioning matters because Kings County is one of the most densely schooled, competitive, and diverse urban contexts in the country. Math results in the elementary and middle grades are particularly solid, with third and fourth grade math proficiency running well above the majority of the comparison group, and eighth grade math standing out as the strongest individual result across all tested subjects and grades. ELA results are somewhat softer than math at most grade levels, with the transition from fifth to sixth grade showing a visible dip that a parent would reasonably want to ask the school about directly. Fifth grade science proficiency runs below half of tested students, which is the weakest single result in the dataset; eighth grade science is more modest as well. Trend data was not available, so it is not possible to say from this data whether these patterns are improving, holding steady, or shifting.
The lower elementary science-of-reading approach is worth noting for families with young children. Publicly reported information describes a deliberate emphasis on phonics, word recognition, vocabulary, and comprehension in the early grades, with two teachers in every classroom and smaller student-to-teacher ratios. The network's academic leadership includes someone who previously led a comparable early literacy redesign at another charter network. Whether that approach fits a family's philosophy is a matter of preference, but it is an active and explicit pedagogical commitment rather than an incidental feature.
A graduation rate was not available in the provided data. The high school component is relatively small, and a parent focused on upper-grade outcomes and college preparation should ask the school directly about AP access, dual enrollment, and postsecondary outcomes, since none of that program detail appeared in the data.
Housing near the school reflects the broader Brooklyn market. Home values in the zip code sit above the New York state midpoint and well above national benchmarks, with modest year-over-year appreciation. Rents are similarly above the national norm. Brooklyn as a borough is highly walkable and transit-connected, though the Coney Island end of the borough sits near the southern terminus of several subway lines rather than at a central hub, so commute times to other parts of the city can be longer than addresses closer to Downtown Brooklyn. The neighborhood itself is low-income relative to the borough's more expensive precincts, and the mismatch between the local housing costs and the economic profile of the school's families is a real feature of the context.
For a family already in District 21, or one willing to navigate the lottery from nearby, Coney Island Prep offers something unusual: a single charter network that can theoretically carry a child from kindergarten through a high school diploma, with academic results that outperform most of its Kings County peers in the tested grades.
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