PS 161 CROWN (THE)

PS 161 CROWN (THE) operates as a low-enrollment K-5 school in BROOKLYN, New York, overseen by NEW YORK CITY GEOGRAPHIC DISTRICT #17. Current enrollment sits at 271 students spanning grades pre-K through 5. By comparison, New York's public schools average about 443 students each, so PS 161 CROWN (THE) sits 39% leaner than that benchmark.

PS 161 CROWN (THE) is one of 49 schools operated by NEW YORK CITY GEOGRAPHIC DISTRICT #17, a district that educates 16,990 students overall.

On demographics, PS 161 CROWN (THE) reports that 69% of the student body identifies as Black. Beyond that, the school records 20% Hispanic, 5% Pacific Islander, 4% White. That is visibly more Black than the county at large, where the share is closer to 28%.

Looking at school resources, On paper, PS 161 CROWN (THE) has 23 full-time-equivalent teachers, translating to a class-load average of around 11.8:1. The state averages around 12.8:1, so this campus is tighter than the state norm typical. About 94% of enrolled students meet the income threshold for free or reduced-price lunch, a number frequently used as a low-income enrollment indicator. By comparison, Kings County runs at roughly 79%, so the school's eligibility rate is meaningfully above the surrounding baseline.

After controlling for student poverty, PS 161 CROWN (THE) sits in the middle band of the BeatsExpectations distribution. Schools with this campus's student mix typically land near 40.3%; this one delivers 45.0%.

Zooming out to the county, census data for Kings County shows the typical household earns roughly $80,263 per year, 42% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, 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 161 CROWN (THE) is one campus in the mix.

The closest other public school is SUCCESS ACADEMY CHARTER SCHOOL-CROWN HEIGHTS, roughly 0.0 miles away. Within five miles, there are 8 other public schools. On composite proficiency, PS 161 CROWN (THE) comes 8th of 9 in the immediate cluster, beneath the nearby-schools average of 65.0%.

Geographically, the school is in a downtown area.

Over the past 7-year window. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at PS 161 CROWN (THE) has shrank 26%, going from 364 students in 2018 to 271 in 2025. The Black share of enrollment ticked down from 83% to 69% over that span. The student-to-teacher ratio tightened from 13.0:1 in 2018 to 11.8:1 today.

On allk12, the page collects discussion, questions, and updates around fundraisers, lost-and-found posts, and report-card season. Posting is open to anyone connected to the school.