PS 287 BAILEY K ASHFORD vs MAURICE SENDAK COMMUNITY SCHOOL (THE)

PS 287 Bailey K Ashford and Maurice Sendak Community School sit 1.9 miles apart in Brooklyn, but their overall ratings diverge sharply. Maurice Sendak earns a 9.3/10 overall versus PS 287's 7.4/10 — a 1.9-point gap — and that translates directly into state rank: Maurice Sendak sits at #10 of 4,742 schools in New York, while PS 287 ranks #1,306 of 4,742. For parents using rank as a primary filter, that separation is decisive.

Academically, Maurice Sendak holds a 9.2/10 academic score against PS 287's 6.6/10 — a 2.6-point difference that reflects meaningfully higher proficiency on state assessments. The growth picture, however, inverts. PS 287 posts a perfect 10.0/10 growth score compared to Maurice Sendak's 9.5/10, meaning PS 287's students are advancing faster relative to their starting points. A family weighing "where my child will progress year-over-year" versus "where peers already perform at grade level" will read those numbers differently.

The demographic profiles of the two schools differ substantially. PS 287 serves 121 students with 93% qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch; Maurice Sendak enrolls 199 students with only 19% on free or reduced lunch. PS 287's student-teacher ratio is 9.3:1 against Maurice Sendak's 11.7:1, so PS 287 students receive more individualized adult attention despite attending a school with lower academic proficiency scores. These factors — socioeconomic composition and class size — often shape a school's instructional culture as much as raw test outcomes do.

On grade span, PS 287 Bailey K Ashford includes pre-kindergarten through 5th grade, giving families the option to enroll children as young as four and maintain continuity through elementary school. Maurice Sendak Community School starts at kindergarten, meaning PK-age children would need a separate placement. Both schools are classified as elementary schools in Brooklyn, making grade-level continuity a practical consideration for families with younger siblings or children approaching PK eligibility.