New York City Geographic District #21 School District

New York City Geographic District 21 serves 34,525 students across 40 ranked schools in Brooklyn, making it one of the larger district footprints in the city. The district average sits at 6.9 out of 10 across all 40 schools — a solid baseline that reflects consistent performance at the middle tier, with meaningful separation at the top end.

That top end is led by PS 121 Nelson A. Rockefeller, which scores 9.1 out of 10 and ranks as the district's strongest elementary school by a clear margin. A 9.1 places it among the upper tier of New York City elementary schools overall, not just within District 21. Parents prioritizing academic performance at the elementary level will find PS 121 the benchmark to measure against. Close behind it, PS 225 Eileen E. Zaglin scores 8.5, and three schools — PS 97 Highlawn, PS 153 Homecrest, and PS 199 Frederick Wachtel — each come in at 8.2. That cluster of four schools scoring 8.2 or above signals genuine depth at the top of the district, not just a single outlier pulling up the average.

The 2.2-point gap between the district average of 6.9 and the top score of 9.1 tells parents something important: school selection within District 21 matters considerably. Families within zone boundaries of the higher-rated schools are accessing meaningfully different academic environments than the district average would suggest. Parents who live near the boundary of multiple schools should check exact attendance zones carefully, since the difference between a 6.9-average school and an 8.2-rated one is substantial.

All five standout schools are elementary level, so District 21's strongest data is concentrated in the K–5 range. With 40 schools total and a district this size, the range of options gives families real choices to research. Parents comparing District 21 against neighboring Brooklyn districts should weight both the 6.9 average and the cluster of high-performing elementaries — the district performs competitively at its top end while remaining average across the full spread.