MAURICE SENDAK COMMUNITY SCHOOL (THE) vs PS 48 MAPLETON

Maurice Sendak Community School and PS 48 Mapleton are both Brooklyn elementary schools, but their overall ratings diverge meaningfully: Maurice Sendak Community School holds a 9.3/10 versus PS 48 Mapleton's 8.6/10 — a 0.7-point gap. That gap reflects a dramatically different position in the statewide standings: Maurice Sendak Community School ranks #10 of 4,742 schools in New York, placing it in the top 0.2% of all New York schools, while PS 48 Mapleton ranks #221 of 4,742 — still an impressive top 5%, but a tier below its Brooklyn peer 3.4 miles away.

The academic score delta drives much of that gap. Maurice Sendak Community School scores 9.2/10 academically versus PS 48 Mapleton's 8.3/10 — nearly a full point difference, suggesting meaningfully stronger tested proficiency outcomes. Growth scores, however, tell a different story: both schools post identical 9.5/10 growth scores, meaning students at each school are advancing at the same exceptional rate relative to peers with similar starting points. PS 48 Mapleton achieves that growth trajectory from a very different socioeconomic baseline, which makes its growth performance particularly notable.

The demographic contrast between the two schools is sharp. Maurice Sendak Community School enrolls 199 students with 19% qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch. PS 48 Mapleton serves 496 students — nearly 2.5 times more — with 87% on free or reduced-price lunch. Student-teacher ratios are close but slightly favor PS 48 Mapleton at 10.8:1 versus Maurice Sendak Community School's 11.7:1, giving the larger school a marginal edge in individual attention per seat despite its greater enrollment.

One structural difference worth noting: PS 48 Mapleton serves students from Pre-K through grade 5, giving families an entry point a year earlier than Maurice Sendak Community School, which begins at Kindergarten. For families with a Pre-K-age child, Mapleton offers continuity that Sendak does not. Both schools serve through 5th grade, so the divergence is entirely at the youngest entry level.