MS 35 STEPHEN DECATUR

MS 35 STEPHEN DECATUR, a minimally staffed middle-grades school in BROOKLYN, New York, operated by NEW YORK CITY GEOGRAPHIC DISTRICT #16, enrolls 175 students, covering grades 6 through 8. That puts it 67% smaller than the typical public school in New York, which averages around 531 students.

Across the 23 schools in NEW YORK CITY GEOGRAPHIC DISTRICT #16 (5,175 students total), MS 35 STEPHEN DECATUR accounts for its share of the district's footprint.

On the student-mix side, MS 35 STEPHEN DECATUR records that the student body is overwhelmingly Black (86%); the rest consists of 13% Hispanic. That is considerably more Black than the county at large, where the share is closer to 28%.

Looking at the economic backdrop, Staff filings list 19 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to roughly 9.2:1 students per teacher. That figure is tighter than the state norm's 10.3:1 average. About 92% of enrolled students meet the income threshold for free or reduced-price lunch, which schools and policymakers use as a rough income-mix signal. By comparison, Kings County runs at roughly 79%, so the school's eligibility rate is higher than the surrounding baseline.

Adjusting for the school's free-and-reduced-lunch share, MS 35 STEPHEN DECATUR is in the OUTPERFORMING tier of the BeatsExpectations model, which fits a per-state line through proficiency and FRL share. Schools with this campus's poverty mix typically land near 41.2%; this one delivers 66.2%, a residual of +25.1 points.

Around the school, community-level numbers for Kings County indicate median household income runs about $80,263, 42% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and the poverty rate sits near 15%. MS 35 STEPHEN DECATUR is one of 583 public schools in Kings County (combined enrollment of about 291,697 students).

Nearest neighbor: BROOKLYN BROWNSTONE SCHOOL, around 0.0 miles off. Counting just inside five miles, 8 other public schools cluster around MS 35 STEPHEN DECATUR. Ranking that nearby cluster on reported proficiency puts MS 35 STEPHEN DECATUR at 3rd of 9; the average score across the group is 45.3%.

The campus sits in an inner-city setting.

Five-year trend. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at MS 35 STEPHEN DECATUR has declined 29%, going from 248 students in 2018 to 175 in 2025. The student-to-teacher ratio pulled in from 14.6:1 in 2018 to 9.2:1 today.

Inside the community feed, posts here usually surface around open house dates, ride-share offers, and field-trip permission slips. Posting is open to anyone connected to the school.