1
What's the one class at MS 51 WILLIAM ALEXANDER every student should take?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
1,038
Middle
DISTRICT 467 · STATE 531
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·NEW YORK CITY GEOGRAPHIC DISTRICT #15·NCES 360009202226
MS 51 WILLIAM ALEXANDER
350 5TH AVE, BROOKLYN, NY 11215 · (718) 369-7603 · Kings County
GRADES 06–08MIDDLE11-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL1,038 STUDENTS
A-
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 84% of New York public middle schools
- A-Test scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- ABeats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
Grades compare a school only with schools in the same state, because every state gives its own test. How grades work · Top-graded New York public middle schools
Student : Teacher
14.2:1
73 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 10.9:1 · STATE 10.3:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
60%
625 students
DISTRICT 61% · STATE 58%
Community
1
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other middle schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Grade 6 | 391 | 38% |
| Grade 7 | 317 | 31% |
| Grade 8 | 330 | 32% |
Student demographics
74%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 73% · STATE 72% · US 70%
Student head counts by race/ethnicity from federal NCES enrollment data. District, state, and US figures are each group's share of all public school students in that area (US excludes territories). Very small groups may be suppressed in the source, so categories do not always sum exactly to total enrollment.
Gender split
Test scores
NYS Assessments 2024-25 . % Proficient (Level 3 + Level 4)English Language Arts
71.0%
NY avg 58.3% . +10.0pp since 2023
Math
72.0%
NY avg 57.4% . -2.5pp since 2023
What this means: On the NYS Assessments, New York's statewide test, about 71 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 72 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all New York schools, those numbers are about 58 and 57. Reading and writing scores are up about 10 points since 2023, while math scores are down about 2 points.
NYS Assessments results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 71.0% | 72.0% |
| 2023-24 | 61.0% | 74.4% |
% Proficient (Level 3 + Level 4), all students and all tested grades.
Source: NYS Assessments. All students, all grades. See all years and grades →
BeatsExpectations
Demographically-adjusted score · methodologyTier
AS EXPECTED
Performing as predicted given the school's student profile
Actual proficiency
67.9%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
52.9%
based on NY schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+15.0pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 68% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 53% typical for New York schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations measures results against demographically similar schools rather than by raw scores, and this school falls within the typical range, neither among New York's top nor bottom 10%.
BeatsExpectations runs a per-state regression of proficiency on free/reduced-lunch share, then scores each school by residual. How this is calculated →
Schools most like MS 51 WILLIAM ALEXANDER
MS 51 WILLIAM ALEXANDER's state test result (67.9% proficient) is higher than 3 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| MS 51 WILLIAM ALEXANDER this school | 1,038 | 60.2% | 67.9% |
| JHS 190 RUSSELL SAGE FOREST HILLS | 935 | 61.3% | 64.4% |
| IS 227 LOUIS ARMSTRONG EAST ELMHURST | 1,555 | 67.1% | 77.0% |
| JHS 157 STEPHEN A HALSEY REGO PARK | 1,611 | 52.2% | 73.7% |
| HICKSVILLE MIDDLE SCHOOL HICKSVILLE | 1,215 | 52.4% | 50.7% |
| IS 72 ROCCO LAURIE STATEN ISLAND | 1,532 | 70.0% | 58.8% |
Matched among New York middle schools on enrollment, the share of students from low-income families (eligible for free or reduced-price lunch), and racial and ethnic makeup. Proficient is the average share of students meeting the state standard across all of the school's state tests in 2023-24 and 2024-25, the same combined score our test-score rankings use. Online schools and schools serving specialized populations are not matched.
Where MS 51 WILLIAM ALEXANDER ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In New York | In Kings County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 67.9% | #166 of 766 | #19 of 91 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 72.0% | #256 of 768 ▼ 26 | #25 of 91 ▼ 5 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 71.0% | #95 of 768 ▲ 44 | #16 of 91 ▲ 4 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 1,038 | #66 of 796 | #10 of 102 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 14.2:1 | #649 of 683 | #58 of 67 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 74.5% | #13 of 688 | #3 of 68 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 60.2% | #341 of 773 | #84 of 92 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -8.3% | #358 of 524 | #43 of 56 |
Ranked against other public middle schools. Online schools are left out of every list, and test-score lists leave out schools that serve specialized populations. Each rank links to the full list. Arrows under a test-score rank show places moved since the prior test year, among schools tested both years.
4-year change
SY 2020-21 vs SY 2024-25Enrollment
1,038
-108 (-9%) vs 2020
-4% since 2010-11, when it was 1,081
Student : Teacher
14.2:1
was 16.4:1
Source: NCES Common Core of Data
Enrollment and staffing by year
| School year | Students | Teachers (FTE) | Students per teacher | Free and reduced lunch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 1,038 | 73.3 | 14.2:1 | 60% (625) |
| 2023-24 | 963 | 65 | 14.8:1 | 64% (618) |
| 2022-23 | 1,026 | 76.1 | 13.5:1 | 61% (625) |
| 2020-21 | 1,146 | 70 | 16.4:1 | 50% (571) |
| 2017-18 | 1,132 | 66 | 17.1:1 | 29% (329) |
| 2015-16 | 1,127 | 67 | 16.8:1 | 24% (267) |
| 2010-11 | 1,081 | 59 | 18.3:1 | 39% (426) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for MS 51 WILLIAM ALEXANDER.
About MS 51 WILLIAM ALEXANDER
MS 51 WILLIAM ALEXANDER is a public large middle school in BROOKLYN, New York. Students in grades 6 through 8 make up the school's enrollment of 1,038 students. Middle schools in New York have about 531 students on average; enrollment here is 95% higher.
The 51 schools of NEW YORK CITY GEOGRAPHIC DISTRICT #15, including MS 51 WILLIAM ALEXANDER, enroll 25,925 students.
Hispanic students make up 32% of enrollment at MS 51 WILLIAM ALEXANDER, the largest share of any group. The remaining shares are 27% Asian, 26% White, 7% multiracial, and 7% Black. Census estimates put the Hispanic share of Kings County's population at about 19%. On a 0 to 100 scale, the school's diversity index is 74, compared with 70 nationally.
A staff of 73.3 full-time-equivalent teachers puts the student-to-teacher ratio at 14.2:1. Across middle schools in New York, the average ratio is 10.3:1. The share of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch is 60%. The average for public schools in Kings County is 79%.
MS 51 WILLIAM ALEXANDER holds an A- allk12 Grade, placing it above 84% of New York public middle schools.
The allk12 BeatsExpectations score for MS 51 WILLIAM ALEXANDER is +15.0 points: 67.9% actual, 52.9% predicted.
In the surrounding county, Kings County, the median household earns about $80,263 a year, the share of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher is 42%, and roughly 15% of residents are in poverty. Kings County has 583 public schools with about 291,697 students, including MS 51 WILLIAM ALEXANDER.
Measured in a straight line, MAURICE SENDAK COMMUNITY SCHOOL (THE) is about 0.2 miles from MS 51 WILLIAM ALEXANDER. The five-mile area around MS 51 WILLIAM ALEXANDER holds at least 8 other public schools. Nearby schools with test data average 70.6% proficiency; MS 51 WILLIAM ALEXANDER posts 67.9%.
NCES lists the school's locale as City: Large. That means it sits inside a principal city with a population of 250,000 or more.
The school shrank from 1,146 students in 2020-21 to 1,038 in 2024-25. The student-to-teacher ratio went down from 16.4:1 to 14.2:1.
On allk12, people connected to MS 51 WILLIAM ALEXANDER can post about special education services, counseling, and support programs. Members of the school community can share what they know.
Kings County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
2,631,580
Census ACS
Median income
$80,263
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
42%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
15%
Below federal line
Schools in county
583
291,697 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in NEW YORK CITY GEOGRAPHIC DISTRICT #15
- SUNSET PARK HIGH SCHOOLHigh · 1,348 students
- PS 321 WILLIAM PENNElementary · 1,305 students
- PS 230 DORIS L COHENElementary · 925 students
- PS 130 PARKSIDE (THE)Elementary · 891 students
- BROOKLYN HIGH SCHOOL OF THE ARTSHigh · 890 students
- JHS 88 PETER ROUGETMiddle · 843 students
Other schools in BROOKLYN
- BROOKLYN TECHNICAL HIGH SCHOOLHigh · 5,848 students
- FORT HAMILTON HIGH SCHOOLHigh · 4,044 students
- JAMES MADISON HIGH SCHOOLHigh · 3,983 students
- MIDWOOD HIGH SCHOOLHigh · 3,657 students
- EDWARD R MURROW HIGH SCHOOLHigh · 3,503 students
- FRANKLIN DELANO ROOSEVELT HIGH SCHOOLHigh · 3,403 students
Nearby schools
- MAURICE SENDAK COMMUNITY SCHOOL (THE)0.2 mi · 202
- PS 39 HENRY BRISTOW0.3 mi · 365
- PS 372 CHILDREN'S SCHOOL (THE)0.3 mi · 460
- PS 321 WILLIAM PENN0.3 mi · 1,305
- MILLENNIUM BROOKLYN HIGH SCHOOL0.3 mi · 682
- JOHN JAY SCHOOL FOR LAW0.3 mi · 450
Frequently asked questions
About MS 51 WILLIAM ALEXANDERWhat is the total enrollment at MS 51 WILLIAM ALEXANDER?
MS 51 WILLIAM ALEXANDER enrolls approximately 1,038 students in grades 06-08.
What grades does MS 51 WILLIAM ALEXANDER serve?
MS 51 WILLIAM ALEXANDER serves grades 06-08.
How many teachers does MS 51 WILLIAM ALEXANDER have?
MS 51 WILLIAM ALEXANDER employs 73 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 14.2:1.
What is the racial breakdown of students at MS 51 WILLIAM ALEXANDER?
At MS 51 WILLIAM ALEXANDER, the student body is approximately 26% White, 32% Hispanic, 7% Black, 27% Asian, 7% Two or more.
Is MS 51 WILLIAM ALEXANDER public or private?
MS 51 WILLIAM ALEXANDER is a public K-12 school, overseen by NEW YORK CITY GEOGRAPHIC DISTRICT #15.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.