Explore Exceed Charter School, Brooklyn NY

Original Research by School Decision on Explore Exceed Charter School

Explore Exceed is a kindergarten-through-eighth-grade charter school in Brooklyn's Crown Heights neighborhood. It operates as part of the Explore Schools network, which recently received multi-year charter renewals extending through the 2028-29 school year, providing continuity for families choosing this school.

The school's academic profile shows room for growth. On state tests in 2023-24, proficiency rates across math and English language arts ranged from the low twenties to mid-fifties percent, depending on grade level. In math, eighth-grade students performed strongest, while fifth graders showed lower proficiency. English language arts results followed a similar pattern. Science testing was limited to fifth and eighth grades, and proficiency rates there were lower still. The school's overall proficiency index places it in the bottom quarter among the county's school districts, a position that reflects the academic challenge the student body is navigating. A parent would likely want to investigate directly with the school how these results connect to the curriculum changes and support strategies in place.

The school serves a predominantly Black student population with a substantial Hispanic enrollment. A large share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating the school draws from families with limited household income. The school does not report data on the share of students with disabilities or English learners, so detailed profile information on those populations is unavailable.

Enrollment is small and rising through the middle grades, reaching around fifty students by eighth grade. The grade progression suggests the school may still be building out its full K-8 structure.

The Explore Schools network recently made a curriculum shift, moving its mathematics scope and sequence forward in the 2023-24 school year to introduce concepts earlier and align them better with how children develop conceptually. This deliberate change speaks to a network paying attention to student learning patterns, though it may take time for results to reflect these new approaches.

Brooklyn itself is a dense, highly walkable urban borough with active street life, extensive transit, and strong civic anchors like Prospect Park and the Brooklyn Public Library. It is in robust growth, with substantial new residential construction reshaping neighborhoods. Housing values are relatively high, and rents reflect the borough's continued demand as an established urban center.

Explore Exceed fits families seeking a neighborhood-based charter option with small cohorts and a school embedded in Brooklyn's urban environment. It is not a high-performing school by test-score measures, but it is operating under new leadership, a revised curriculum, and a charter that extends several years forward, creating some visibility for families making a multi-year commitment.

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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 · 2023-24

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
Science	18	94.0%
Math	7	100.0%

Math

Grade 350%

School 50% · district not reported

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

Grade 429%

School 29% · district not reported

▼ 29 pts below state median · ▼ 38 pts below county median

Grade 522%

School 22% · district not reported

▼ 30 pts below state median · ▼ 36 pts below county median

Grade 644%

School 44% · district not reported

▼ 1 pts below state median · ▼ 6 pts below county median

Grade 755%

School 55% · district not reported

▲ 2 pts above state median · ▼ 4 pts below county median

Grade 847%

School 47% · district not reported

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

English language arts

Grade 337%

School 37% · district not reported

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

Grade 432%

School 32% · district not reported

▼ 21 pts below state median · ▼ 30 pts below county median

Grade 534%

School 34% · district not reported

▼ 20 pts below state median · ▼ 27 pts below county median

Grade 626%

School 26% · district not reported

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

Grade 742%

School 42% · district not reported

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

Grade 851%

School 51% · district not reported

▲ 3 pts above state median · ▼ 5 pts below county median

Science

Grade 522%

School 22% · district not reported

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

Grade 815%

School 15% · district not reported

▼ 18 pts below state median · ▼ 10 pts below county median

This schoolDistrict average, 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-income33%Higher-income50%17 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income31%Higher-income33%2 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income24%Higher-income31%7 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income47%Higher-income14%33 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income54%Higher-income33%21 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income48%Higher-income57%9 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income31%Higher-income17%15 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income17%Higher-income38%20 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income40%Higher-income50%10 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income62%Higher-income14%48 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income43%Higher-income63%20 pp gap