PS 138

PS 138 operates as an intimate elementary school in BROOKLYN, New York, part of NEW YORK CITY GEOGRAPHIC DISTRICT #17. Current enrollment sits at 356 students spanning grades pre-K through 8.

NEW YORK CITY GEOGRAPHIC DISTRICT #17 comprises 49 schools with combined enrollment of 16,990 students; PS 138 is among them.

Looking at the student body, PS 138 logs that the largest single group is Black, at 69% of enrollment. The remainder consists of 17% Hispanic, 10% White, 2% multiracial. By comparison, Kings County as a whole is about 28% Black, so the school skews meaningfully more Black than its surroundings.

Looking at school resources, PS 138 lists 38 full-time-equivalent teachers, putting the student-to-teacher ratio at about 9.3:1. That figure is tighter than the state norm's 12.8:1 average. Roughly 86% of students at PS 138 qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a commonly cited indicator of low-income enrollment.

After controlling for student poverty, PS 138 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 43.5%; this one delivers 67.0%, a residual of +23.6 points.

In the broader community, ACS estimates for Kings County put the typical household earns roughly $80,263 per year, about 42% of the adult population holds a bachelor's degree or above, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 15%. Across Kings County's 583 public schools (combined enrollment of about 291,697 students), PS 138 is one campus in the mix.

The closest other public school is SUCCESS ACADEMY CHARTER SCHOOL-PROSPECT HEIGHTS, roughly 0.0 miles away. Within five miles, there are 8 other public schools. Among the 9 schools in that immediate cluster with test data (this one included), PS 138 ranks 3rd on composite proficiency, above the local average of 49.6%.

The school occupies a city-core site.

Five-year trend. PS 138's enrollment has edged down 36% since 2018, when it stood at 560 (now 356). Black enrollment moved from 80% to 69% across the same window. Class-load math has pulled in: from 11.9:1 in 2018 to 9.3:1 in 2025.

Within the allk12 community for this school, the page collects discussion, questions, and updates around open house dates, ride-share offers, and field-trip permission slips. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.