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What do students at PS 159 ISAAC PITKIN actually talk about outside of class?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
661
Elementary
DISTRICT 381 · STATE 443
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·NEW YORK CITY GEOGRAPHIC DISTRICT #19·NCES 360012002572
PS 159 ISAAC PITKIN
2781 PITKIN AVE, BROOKLYN, NY 11208 · (718) 277-4828 · Kings County
GRADES PK–05ELEMENTARY11-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL661 STUDENTS
B-
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 52% of New York public elementary schools
- C+Test scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- B+Beats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- ·Three-year trend Not available for this school, so the grade uses the other parts.
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 elementary schools
Student : Teacher
14.2:1
47 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 12.4:1 · STATE 12.8:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
93%
612 students
DISTRICT 92% · STATE 58%
Community
1
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other elementary schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-K | 34 | 5% |
| Kindergarten | 113 | 17% |
| Grade 1 | 116 | 18% |
| Grade 2 | 111 | 17% |
| Grade 3 | 105 | 16% |
| Grade 4 | 86 | 13% |
| Grade 5 | 94 | 14% |
| Ungraded | 2 | 0% |
This year's kindergarten class (113) is 20% larger than its 5th grade class (94).
Student demographics
59%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 62% · 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
52.0%
NY avg 58.3% . +11.0pp since 2023
Math
51.0%
NY avg 57.4% . +2.0pp since 2023
What this means: On the NYS Assessments, New York's statewide test, about 52 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 51 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 11 points since 2023, while math scores are up about 2 points.
NYS Assessments results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 52.0% | 51.0% |
| 2023-24 | 41.0% | 49.0% |
% 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
45.2%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
40.9%
based on NY schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+4.2pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 45% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 41% 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 PS 159 ISAAC PITKIN
PS 159 ISAAC PITKIN's state test result (45.2% proficient) is higher than 2 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| PS 159 ISAAC PITKIN this school | 661 | 92.6% | 45.2% |
| BRONX CHARTER SCHOOL FOR EXCELLENCE BRONX | 790 | 91.1% | 89.8% |
| PS 214 MICHAEL FRIEDSAM BROOKLYN | 728 | 88.9% | 42.5% |
| PS 86 JAMAICA | 689 | 85.5% | 57.5% |
| PS 179 KENSINGTON BROOKLYN | 660 | 93.9% | 43.1% |
| PS 161 ARTHUR ASHE SCHOOL JAMAICA | 558 | 83.3% | 64.3% |
Matched among New York elementary 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 PS 159 ISAAC PITKIN ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In New York | In Kings County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 45.2% | #1,382 of 2,335 | #197 of 290 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 51.0% | #1,396 of 2,342 ▼ 67 | #201 of 290 ▼ 18 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 52.0% | #1,248 of 2,343 ▼ 28 | #202 of 290 ▼ 26 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 661 | #337 of 2,585 | #69 of 306 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 14.2:1 | #1,915 of 2,338 | #190 of 249 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 59.0% | #750 of 2,388 | #102 of 263 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 92.6% | #314 of 2,534 | #75 of 300 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -17.4% | #733 of 1,757 | #144 of 225 |
Ranked against other public elementary 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
661
-32 (-5%) vs 2020
-26% since 2010-11, when it was 897
Student : Teacher
14.2:1
was 14.1:1
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 | 661 | 46.5 | 14.2:1 | 93% (612) |
| 2023-24 | 611 | 42 | 14.6:1 | 95% (580) |
| 2022-23 | 611 | 41.4 | 14.8:1 | 88% (536) |
| 2020-21 | 693 | 49 | 14.1:1 | 85% (588) |
| 2017-18 | 800 | 52 | 15.4:1 | 85% (678) |
| 2015-16 | 848 | 48 | 17.7:1 | 73% (616) |
| 2010-11 | 897 | 58 | 15.5:1 | 96% (859) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for PS 159 ISAAC PITKIN.
About PS 159 ISAAC PITKIN
PS 159 ISAAC PITKIN is an elementary school in BROOKLYN, New York, and it is part of NEW YORK CITY GEOGRAPHIC DISTRICT #19. Students in pre-K through 5 make up the school's enrollment of 661 students. That compares with an average of about 443 students for elementary schools in New York.
The district for PS 159 ISAAC PITKIN is NEW YORK CITY GEOGRAPHIC DISTRICT #19, with 53 schools and 18,619 students.
Of every 100 students at PS 159 ISAAC PITKIN, about 57 are Asian. After that, the student body is 23% Hispanic and 16% Black. Among all residents of Kings County, the Asian share is about 12%. The diversity index for PS 159 ISAAC PITKIN is 59%. For US public schools as a whole it is 70%.
For every teacher at PS 159 ISAAC PITKIN, there are about 14.2 students; the school has 46.5 full-time-equivalent teachers. Statewide, elementary schools in New York average 12.8:1. The eligibility rate for free or reduced-price meals is 93%. Public schools in Kings County average 79%.
Among New York public elementary schools, PS 159 ISAAC PITKIN outscored 52%, which works out to a B- on the allk12 Grade.
After adjusting for student poverty, PS 159 ISAAC PITKIN lands between the top and bottom 10% of New York schools. Its average proficiency rate across its state test results is 45.2%; the prediction is 40.9%.
Looking at the county, Kings County, median household income comes to about $80,263, a bachelor's degree or higher is held by about 42% of adults, and the poverty rate is about 15%. The county has 583 public schools and about 291,697 students.
PS 214 MICHAEL FRIEDSAM, about 0.3 miles away, is the closest public school. Other public schools within five miles number at least 8. Compared with its nearest neighbors, PS 159 ISAAC PITKIN ranks 4th of 9 on average proficiency.
Locale data from NCES put PS 159 ISAAC PITKIN inside a principal city with a population of 250,000 or more (City: Large).
From 693 students in 2020-21, enrollment decreased to 661 by 2024-25.
This page collects posts and questions about PS 159 ISAAC PITKIN, such as open houses, carpools, and field trips. Current and former families are welcome to add their experience.
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 #19
- TRANSIT TECH CAREER AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION HIGH SCHOOLHigh · 795 students
- PS 214 MICHAEL FRIEDSAMElementary · 728 students
- PS 108 SAL ABBRACCIAMENTOElementary · 649 students
- EAST NEW YORK FAMILY ACADEMYHigh · 610 students
- PS 7 ABRAHAM LINCOLNElementary · 589 students
- W H MAXWELL CAREER AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION HIGH SCHOOLHigh · 545 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
- PS 214 MICHAEL FRIEDSAM0.3 mi · 728
- TRANSIT TECH CAREER AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION HIGH SCHOOL0.4 mi · 795
- CYPRESS HILLS ASCEND CHARTER SCHOOL0.4 mi · 485
- SCHOOL FOR CLASSICS HIGH SCHOOL0.5 mi · 358
- JHS 218 JAMES P SINNOTT0.5 mi · 307
- BROOKLYN SCHOLARS CHARTER SCHOOL0.5 mi · 728
Frequently asked questions
About PS 159 ISAAC PITKINHow large is PS 159 ISAAC PITKIN?
PS 159 ISAAC PITKIN enrolls approximately 661 students in grades PK-05.
What grades does PS 159 ISAAC PITKIN serve?
PS 159 ISAAC PITKIN serves grades PK-05.
What is the student-teacher ratio at PS 159 ISAAC PITKIN?
The student-to-teacher ratio at PS 159 ISAAC PITKIN is approximately 14.2:1 (47 FTE teachers).
What is the racial breakdown of students at PS 159 ISAAC PITKIN?
At PS 159 ISAAC PITKIN, the student body is approximately 0% White, 23% Hispanic, 16% Black, 57% Asian, 1% Two or more.
Is PS 159 ISAAC PITKIN public or private?
PS 159 ISAAC PITKIN is a public K-12 school, overseen by NEW YORK CITY GEOGRAPHIC DISTRICT #19.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.