Bushwick Ascend Charter School
- 751 KNICKERBOCKER AVENUE, Brooklyn
- Grades K-8
- Danielle Pena, Principal
- 347-289-9080
About
Bushwick Ascend Charter School serves students in grades K-8 in Brooklyn. The school has an enrollment of 734 students, which is well above the citywide median. The student population includes 83 percent Hispanic and 14 percent Black students. The Economic Need Index is 85 percent, and 92 percent of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. The percentage of English Language Learners is 31 percent, well above the citywide median, while the percentage of students with Individualized Education Programs is 16 percent, below the citywide 25th percentile. In academic outcomes, 70 percent of students demonstrated proficiency in English Language Arts, which is at the citywide 75th percentile. In Math, 77 percent of students achieved proficiency, well above the citywide median. The school's accelerated coursework rate is 1 percent, which is below the citywide 25th percentile. The school reports a suspension rate of 0 percent. The school describes itself as fostering critical thinking and a love of learning through approaches like the Science of Reading and a Responsive Classroom model, with a commitment to educational equity. Parent and student survey results are not available for this school.
Sources (4)
Academics
State test proficiency rates and acceleration.
ELA proficiency
70%
Math proficiency
77%
Proficiency rates are from the Grade 3–8 NYS state test (school-level).
Attendance rate
84%
Avg class size (general ed)
—
Avg class size (ICT)
—
Community & climate
Demographics, attendance, school survey results, and DOE quality ratings.
Quality signals
NYC School Survey, 2025-26
Overall positive % is averaged across every Pos/Neg survey question per respondent group (school year 2025-2026). Survey topics are the DOE’s framework measures (each the average favorable response across its questions; expand a topic to see them and the citywide average); the dimension scores themselves are no longer in the public data file.[3]
Operational health
Attendance
84%
Chronic absenteeism
19%
Suspension rate
0%
Teachers[7]
Teachers with 4+ years' experience
40%
Students per teacher
18:1
Teaching out of certification
83%
Teacher experience and certification from the NYSED School Report Card (2024–25); students per teacher = enrollment ÷ reported teachers. Fewer than 4 years counts as inexperienced.
Student body
Race / ethnicity[4]
- Black 14%
- Hispanic 83%
- White 1%
- Multiracial 1%
School-level totals; may not sum to 100% due to rounding and small subgroup suppression.
Gender[4]
- Female 53%
- Male 47%
Female / male shares as published by the DOE; other gender identities aren’t reported in the source data.
Enrollment
734
Economic Need Index
85%
Free / reduced lunch
92%
English learners
31%
Students with IEPs
16%
Financials
[8]What this school has to spend, and what it spends it on. Spending is not a measure of quality. Schools serving more students with higher needs receive more money.
Charter schools manage their own budgets rather than receiving a school allocation from the DOE, so the staffing and supplies breakdown the DOE publishes for district schools is not published for this school.
Spending
Total spend
$12.5MStudents: 738
41st percentile citywide
Total spend per student
$16,897
1st percentile citywide · city median $33,357
Location & commute
Where the school is and how to get there.