P.S. 255 Barbara Reing School

1866 East 17 Street, Brooklyn, NY 11229 · Brooklyn · Elementary

DBN: 22K255

Elementary

Zoned: Elementary

SchoolDigger: 705 (of 2445)

Niche: 722 (of 2817)

Zones into these middle schools

J.H.S. 234 Arthur W. Cunningham J.H.S. 014 Shell Bank

Academic quality

ELA = English Language Arts (reading and writing). Math and Science are self-explanatory.
NY State tests ELA and Math every year in grades 3-8, and Science once, in grade 8 -- a school's numbers below only reflect whichever of those grades it actually serves (no social studies/history state test exists at this level).
"Avg. rating" is DOE's average student score on a 1.0-4.5 scale (higher is better) -- shown here as "value / 4.5" alongside the citywide average for the same metric as a benchmark for what's typical.

Attendance: 91.4%

65.6% attend 90%+ of days

Subject

Student group

Overall proficiency

ELA % proficient

68.5%(citywide avg: 67.7%)

ELA avg. rating

3.30 / 4.5(citywide avg: 3.30 / 4.5)

Math % proficient

72.2%(citywide avg: 72%)

Math avg. rating

3.35 / 4.5(citywide avg: 3.38 / 4.5)

By grade

Grade 3 ELA

75.8%

Grade 3 Math

83.6%

Grade 4 ELA

66.9%

Grade 4 Math

70.4%

Grade 5 ELA

63.1%

Grade 5 Math

63.4%

By student group

English Language Learners -- ELA

57.5%(citywide avg: 63%)

English Language Learners -- Math

65.8%(citywide avg: 71.8%)

Students with disabilities -- ELA

51.2%

Students with disabilities -- Math

47.6%

Asian students -- ELA

69.4%(citywide avg: 72.2%)

Asian students -- Math

75.7%(citywide avg: 80.2%)

Hispanic/Latino students -- ELA

61.1%(citywide avg: 60.1%)

Hispanic/Latino students -- Math

50%(citywide avg: 51.1%)

White students -- ELA

69.3%(citywide avg: 70.7%)

White students -- Math

74.9%(citywide avg: 75.1%)

"% proficient" is the share of students scoring Level 3 or 4 on the state test. Citywide comparisons are the average across schools of the same type. Grades and groups with very few tested students are flagged since a handful of kids can swing the percentage a lot; groups too small to report are omitted by DOE for student privacy -- that's also why Science, tested only once, shows up far less often than ELA/Math.Source: NYC Open Data: School Quality Reports Data (2023-24 school year)

See full grade-by-grade test results (ELA, Math, Science) →

Demographics

777 students enrolled

Economic Need Index: 72.6%

Race & ethnicity

Asian

27.4%

Black

3.3%

Hispanic or Latino

11.7%

White

55.1%

Multiracial

0.9%

Native American

1.3%

Other groups

Students with disabilities

18%

English Language Learners

27.9%

Living in poverty

77%

Female

50.6%

Male

49.4%

Economic Need Index is DOE's estimate of the share of students facing economic hardship, based on eligibility for public assistance, temporary housing status, and household income relative to the poverty line. Some very high values are reported by DOE only as "Above 95%" for student privacy and are shown here as 95%.Source: NYC Open Data: Demographic Snapshot (2021-22 school year)

Kindergarten admissions priority breakdown

Admissions cycle

Zoned

133 seats

Not all seats filled last year

Priority groups, in the order NYC DOE offers seats. Tap a group for NYC DOE's exact wording.

1. Students who live in the zone and have a sibling at the school.

~100% admitted

There were about 15 applicants in this group and all received offers last year.This group's offers alone accounted for ~11% of the program's seats -- not the same as this group's own admit rate above, since offers can exceed seats (not everyone who gets one enrolls).

2. Other students who live in the zone.

~100% admitted

There were about 35 applicants in this group and all received offers last year.This group's offers alone accounted for ~26% of the program's seats -- not the same as this group's own admit rate above, since offers can exceed seats (not everyone who gets one enrolls).

3. Students who live in the district and have a sibling at the school.

~100% admitted

There were about 5 applicants in this group and all received offers last year.This group's offers alone accounted for ~4% of the program's seats -- not the same as this group's own admit rate above, since offers can exceed seats (not everyone who gets one enrolls).

4. Students who live outside the district and have a sibling at the school.

~100% admitted

There were fewer than 5 applicants in this group and all received offers last year.This group's offers alone accounted for ~3% of the program's seats -- not the same as this group's own admit rate above, since offers can exceed seats (not everyone who gets one enrolls).

5. Other students who live in the district.

~100% admitted

There were about 50 applicants in this group and all received offers last year.This group's offers alone accounted for ~38% of the program's seats -- not the same as this group's own admit rate above, since offers can exceed seats (not everyone who gets one enrolls).

6. Other students who live outside the district.

~100% admitted

Estimates derived from NYC DOE's own wording, which rounds and fuzzes small numbers for privacy. Each group's applicant count is independent of the others -- schools are usually oversubscribed, so applicant counts across groups often add up to more than the total seats. That's expected, not an error.Source: NYC DOE MySchools Admissions Data (2025-26 admissions cycle)