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Ps 503 School Of Discovery (The)

Q: Is Ps 503 School Of Discovery (The) a good school?

Ps 503 School Of Discovery (The) ranks 1133 rd of 2445 New York elementary schools. SchoolDigger rates this school 3 stars out of 5.

Public Grades K-5

1133^rd

SchoolDigger Rank ?

of 2,445 New York Elementary Schools

Better than 54% of New York elementary schools

Summary

Ps 503 School Of Discovery (The) is an elementary school in Brooklyn, New York, serving students from kindergarten to 5th grade. While the school is part of the New York City Geographic District #20, which is ranked 249 out of 874 districts in the state, Ps 503 School Of Discovery (The) faces significant challenges in student academic performance.

The school has consistently lower proficiency rates in English Language Arts (ELA), Math, and Science compared to the district and state averages. For example, in the 2024-2025 school year, the school's 3rd grade ELA proficiency rate was 52.44%, compared to 66.49% for the district and 54.15% for the state. The school's performance is also lower than nearby schools, such as Ps/Is 30 Mary White Ovington, Ps 102 Bayview (The), Ralph A Fabrizio School, and Ps 69 Vincent D Grippo School, which are also part of the New York City Geographic District #20.

Ps 503 School Of Discovery (The) has a high percentage of students from low socioeconomic backgrounds, with 95.9% of students receiving free or reduced-price lunch in the 2023-2024 school year. The school's spending per student is also relatively high, at $39,308 per student in the 2023-2024 school year, compared to the district average of $30,255 and the state average of $25,639. Despite these resources, the school has shown a declining trend in its statewide ranking, dropping from 1,514 out of 2,413 New York elementary schools in the 2018-2019 school year to 1,133 out of 2,445 in the 2024-2025 school year.

550

Students ?

7.7

Student/teacher ratio ?

$42,729

Per pupil spending ?

94%

Free/discounted lunch ?

330 59th St
Brooklyn, NY 11220

(718) 439-5962

District: New York City Geographic District #20

Students who attend Ps 503 School Of Discovery (The) usually attend:

Middle:	Junior High School 220 John J Pershing
High:	Fort Hamilton High School

Racial breakdown:

Hispanic:

76.2%

Asian:

14.4%

White:

8.2%

See top rated New York elementary schools

Compare Ps 503 School Of Discovery (The) to nearby elementary schools!

At a glance

▲ Ranking trend: Improving — 21st percentile in 2015 → 54th in 2025

Strengths

✓Ranking is trending up — up 33 percentile points since 2015

✓Above the New York median (54th percentile)

✓Small classes — about 8 students per teacher

Worth a look

!Near the bottom of New York City Geographic District #20's ranking

Students meeting standards (2024-2025) ?

This school56%

District avg69%

New York avg55%

1,133^rd of 2,445

New York public elementary schools ?

Top 46%▲ up 33 pts since 2015

From bottom 21% (2015) to top 46% (2025)

See the entire ranking list of New York Elementary Schools →

★★★★★

SchoolDigger rating ?

27^th of 32Elementary Schools in the New York City Geographic District #20

249^th of 874New York City Geographic District #20 among New York districts

Statewide rank percentile over time (100 = the top-ranked school in the state; click a legend item to add a student group)

Show full rank history (all student groups)

All Students

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	New York percentile	Rating
2025	52.8	1133 of 2445	53.7%	★★★☆☆
2024	45.8	1259 of 2445	48.5%	★★☆☆☆
2023	45.9	1284 of 2439	47.4%	★★☆☆☆
2022	34.2	1650 of 2434	32.2%	★★☆☆☆
2021	24.5	1765 of 2201	19.8%	★☆☆☆☆
2019	37.0	1514 of 2413	37.3%	★★☆☆☆
2018	31.5	1710 of 2395	28.6%	★☆☆☆☆
2017	19.4	2020 of 2386	15.3%	★☆☆☆☆
2016	18.8	2026 of 2366	14.4%	★☆☆☆☆
2015	23.0	1864 of 2352	20.7%	★☆☆☆☆
2014	25.8	1834 of 2345	21.8%	★☆☆☆☆
2013	18.4	2012 of 2325	13.5%	★☆☆☆☆
2012	18.4	1991 of 2320	14.2%	★☆☆☆☆
2011	16.5	2008 of 2286	12.2%	★☆☆☆☆
2010	12.5	2081 of 2263	8.0%	☆☆☆☆☆
2009	24.4	1910 of 2257	15.4%	★☆☆☆☆
2008	18.5	1941 of 2227	12.8%	★☆☆☆☆

Asian

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	New York percentile	Rating
2024	46.4	404 of 662	39.0%	★★☆☆☆
2023	55.2	302 of 605	50.1%	★★★☆☆
2022	48.4	400 of 671	40.4%	★★☆☆☆
2019	56.3	280 of 548	48.9%	★★☆☆☆
2018	46.9	389 of 601	35.3%	★★☆☆☆

English Language Learner

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	New York percentile	Rating
2025	70.6	169 of 1117	84.9%	★★★★☆
2024	65.4	200 of 1066	81.2%	★★★★☆
2023	55.6	296 of 1001	70.4%	★★★★☆
2022	64.7	222 of 1027	78.4%	★★★★☆
2021	45.6	222 of 454	51.1%	★★★☆☆
2019	54.3	275 of 860	68.0%	★★★☆☆
2018	60.0	242 of 938	74.2%	★★★★☆

Female

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	New York percentile	Rating
2025	51.7	1145 of 2409	52.5%	★★★☆☆
2024	40.2	1440 of 2413	40.3%	★★☆☆☆
2023	42.8	1360 of 2403	43.4%	★★☆☆☆
2022	30.2	1748 of 2401	27.2%	★☆☆☆☆
2021	29.0	1476 of 1955	24.5%	★☆☆☆☆
2019	35.7	1539 of 2357	34.7%	★★☆☆☆
2018	30.1	1753 of 2338	25.0%	★☆☆☆☆

Hispanic

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	New York percentile	Rating
2025	55.7	611 of 1569	61.1%	★★★☆☆
2024	46.4	744 of 1531	51.4%	★★★☆☆
2023	40.5	849 of 1429	40.6%	★★☆☆☆
2022	31.6	1097 of 1503	27.0%	★☆☆☆☆
2021	24.5	677 of 818	17.2%	★☆☆☆☆
2019	36.9	820 of 1315	37.6%	★★☆☆☆
2018	32.6	1002 of 1392	28.0%	★☆☆☆☆

Homeless

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	New York percentile	Rating
2025	73.1	139 of 792	82.4%	★★★★☆
2024	59.6	216 of 766	71.8%	★★★★☆
2023	63.1	181 of 637	71.6%	★★★★☆
2022	54.3	230 of 622	63.0%	★★★☆☆
2021	26.9	58 of 70	17.1%	★☆☆☆☆
2019	61.6	144 of 570	74.7%	★★★★☆
2018	52.3	285 of 730	61.0%	★★★☆☆

Low Socio Economic Status

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	New York percentile	Rating
2025	62.9	636 of 2098	69.7%	★★★☆☆
2024	45.4	1030 of 2078	50.4%	★★★☆☆
2023	63.8	578 of 2041	71.7%	★★★★☆
2022	43.5	1109 of 2099	47.2%	★★☆☆☆
2019	47.7	949 of 2032	53.3%	★★★☆☆
2018	41.4	1162 of 2045	43.2%	★★☆☆☆

Male

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	New York percentile	Rating
2025	53.5	1074 of 2407	55.4%	★★★☆☆
2024	53.7	1045 of 2411	56.7%	★★★☆☆
2023	49.3	1169 of 2400	51.3%	★★★☆☆
2022	39.8	1464 of 2400	39.0%	★★☆☆☆
2021	19.8	1674 of 1961	14.6%	★☆☆☆☆
2019	38.0	1461 of 2358	38.0%	★★☆☆☆
2018	34.7	1602 of 2340	31.5%	★★☆☆☆

Special Education

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	New York percentile	Rating
2025	69.0	451 of 2134	78.9%	★★★★☆
2024	61.0	554 of 2110	73.7%	★★★★☆
2023	54.9	649 of 2016	67.8%	★★★☆☆
2022	45.8	920 of 2031	54.7%	★★★☆☆
2019	62.4	403 of 1859	78.3%	★★★★☆
2018	52.2	708 of 1941	63.5%	★★★☆☆

White

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	New York percentile	Rating
2018	34.4	1014 of 1408	28.0%	★☆☆☆☆

How student groups rank statewide ? (each group's percentile vs the same group at other schools — higher is better; the +/- beside each compares the group with this school's overall percentile)

English Language Learner (2025)85th percentile+31 vs school

Homeless (2025)82nd percentile+29 vs school

Special Education (2025)79th percentile+25 vs school

Low Socio Economic Status (2025)70th percentile+16 vs school

Hispanic (2025)61st percentile+7 vs school

Male (2025)55th percentile~ school

Female (2025)52nd percentile~ school

Asian (2024)39th percentile-10 vs school

White (2018)28th percentile~ school

By subject vs New York (2024-2025) ?

English Language Arts58%+4 vs state

Math58%~ state avg

Science42%-3 vs state

5.0

1 rating · 1 written review

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What people are saying

by a parent
Wednesday, September 7, 2016

My daughter's will be entering as 2nd and 3rd graders this year. Both are reading past grade level and are past grade level in Math. The teachers we've had thus far have been amazing. The school community is better than I could ever have imagined and the entire staff works tirelessly to include families in their children's education. Not only do our children benefit by their hard work, but we do! I love PS503!! Close Quote

Schools Near Ps 503 School Of Discovery (The)

Choose columns to see: Summary School Students/Teachers Ranking Test Scores Finance All

School													Students/Teachers											Ranking (2025)				Ranking (2024)				Regents U.S. History and Government (2025)	Regents Algebra I (2025)	Regents Life Science Biology (2025)	NY State Assessments English Language Arts (2025)						NY State Assessments Math (2025)						NY State Assessments Science (2025)	Per Pupil Expenditures (2025)
Name	Type	Grades	Address	City	Zip	County	District	Is Charter	Is Magnet	Is Virtual	Is Title I	Phone	Enrollment	Full-time Teachers	Student/ Teacher Ratio	Free/Discounted Lunch Recipients	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Average Standard Score (2025)	Statewide Rank (2025)	State Percentile (2025)	SchoolDigger Rating (2025)	Average Standard Score (2024)	Statewide Rank (2024)	State Percentile (2024)	Rank Change from Previous Year	Regents U.S. History and Government End of Course	Regents Algebra I End of Course	Regents Life Science Biology End of Course	NY State Assessments English Language Arts 3rd Grade	NY State Assessments English Language Arts 4th Grade	NY State Assessments English Language Arts 5th Grade	NY State Assessments English Language Arts 6th Grade	NY State Assessments English Language Arts 7th Grade	NY State Assessments English Language Arts 8th Grade	NY State Assessments Math 3rd Grade	NY State Assessments Math 4th Grade	NY State Assessments Math 5th Grade	NY State Assessments Math 6th Grade	NY State Assessments Math 7th Grade	NY State Assessments Math 8th Grade	NY State Assessments Science 5th Grade	Per Pupil Expenditures Total	Sub-total from Federal Funds	Sub-total from State/Local Funds
Ps 506 School Of Journalism And Technology (The)	Public	K-5	330 59th St	Brooklyn	11220	Kings County	New York City Geographic District #20	No	No	No	Yes	(718) 492-0087	334	36	9.2	95.2%	17 (5.1%)	0 (0.0%)	222 (66.5%)	93 (27.8%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	26.2	1885^th of 2445 public elementary schools	22.9%		29.1	1771^st of 2445 public elementary schools	27.6%	114				38.2	41.7	43.5				42.9	44.8	42.1				31.8	$44,663	$3,477	$41,186
Ps 503 School Of Discovery (The)	Public	K-5	330 59th St	Brooklyn	11220	Kings County	New York City Geographic District #20	No	No	No	Yes	(718) 439-5962	550	71	7.7	94.0%	45 (8.2%)	0 (0.0%)	419 (76.2%)	79 (14.4%)	4 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.5%)	52.8	1133^rd of 2445 public elementary schools	53.7%		45.8	1259^th of 2445 public elementary schools	48.5%	126				52.4	63.9	59.8				58.8	64.6	52.2				41.8	$42,729	$3,387	$39,342
Sunset School Of Cultural Learning	Public	K-4	270 59th St	Brooklyn	11220	Kings County	New York City Geographic District #20	No	No	No	Yes	(347) 464-5131	266	30	8.8	88.0%	24 (9.0%)	3 (1.1%)	200 (75.2%)	34 (12.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (1.9%)	62.7	877^th of 2445 public elementary schools	64.1%					(n/a)				67.2	59.3					62.7	64.3						$33,941	$2,772	$31,169
School Of Math Science And Healthy Living	Public	K-5	6214 4th Ave	Brooklyn	11220	Kings County	New York City Geographic District #20	No	No	No	Yes	(718) 765-2200	169	18	9.4	94.7%	17 (10.1%)	0 (0.0%)	107 (63.3%)	43 (25.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (1.2%)	46.1	1297^th of 2445 public elementary schools	47.0%		43.6	1334^th of 2445 public elementary schools	45.4%	37				64.7	68.2	28.6				79.0	50.0	42.1				31.6	$37,624	$2,316	$35,308
Leep Dual Language Academy Charter School	Public, Charter	K-5	5323 5th Ave - 2nd Fl	Brooklyn	11220	Kings County	Leep Dual Language Academy Charter School	Yes	No	No	Yes	(917) 819-5337	435	42	10.3	91.7%	26 (6.0%)	12 (2.8%)	384 (88.3%)	6 (1.4%)	2 (0.5%)	1 (0.2%)	4 (0.9%)	58.7	968^th of 2445 public elementary schools	60.4%		39.2	1480^th of 2445 public elementary schools	39.5%	512				58.2	50.7	71.4				75.9	62.3	58.9				42.1	$20,883	$1,151	$19,732
Joanne Seminara School Of Law And Medicine	Public	K	280 Senator St	Brooklyn	11220	Kings County	New York City Geographic District #20	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(347) 457-6983	28	2	14.0	75.0%	14 (50.0%)	0 (0.0%)	10 (35.7%)	4 (14.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)								(n/a)																	$42,455	$1,738	$40,717
Ps 94 Henry Longfellow (The)	Public	K-5	5010 6th Ave	Brooklyn	11220	Kings County	New York City Geographic District #15	No	No	No	Yes	(718) 435-6034	819	80	10.1	98.2%	16 (2.0%)	1 (0.1%)	292 (35.7%)	510 (62.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	55.6	1048^th of 2445 public elementary schools	57.1%		64	799^th of 2445 public elementary schools	67.3%	249				55.2	51.9	52.8				76.0	67.1	56.6				43.3	$33,393	$3,595	$29,798
Ps/Is 30 Mary White Ovington	Public	K-8	7002 4th Ave	Brooklyn	11209	Kings County	New York City Geographic District #20	No	No	No	Yes	(718) 491-8440	849	78	10.9	82.6%	383 (45.1%)	14 (1.6%)	306 (36.0%)	133 (15.7%)	3 (0.4%)	1 (0.1%)	9 (1.1%)	52	1163^rd of 2445 public elementary schools	52.4%		44.8	1295^th of 2445 public elementary schools	47.0%	132	87.7	81.0	45.4	56.8	64.7	69.9	39.1	59.1	52.1	54.7	68.5	61.3	40.0	58.7	58.0	46.1	$31,495	$2,685	$28,810
Ps 1 Bergen (The)	Public	PK, KG-5	309 47th St	Brooklyn	11220	Kings County	New York City Geographic District #15	No	No	No	Yes	(718) 567-7661	660	62	10.6	92.0%	26 (3.9%)	7 (1.1%)	597 (90.5%)	29 (4.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	24.7	1932^nd of 2445 public elementary schools	21.0%		20.3	2053^rd of 2445 public elementary schools	16.0%	121				47.2	33.7	41.5				35.9	26.8	47.9				37.6	$34,384	$3,173	$31,211
Ps 102 Bayview (The)	Public	K-5	211 72nd St	Brooklyn	11209	Kings County	New York City Geographic District #20	No	No	No	No	(718) 748-7404	1,075	83	12.9	63.1%	518 (48.2%)	19 (1.8%)	296 (27.5%)	187 (17.4%)	3 (0.3%)	2 (0.2%)	50 (4.7%)	80	425^th of 2445 public elementary schools	82.6%		84.6	320^th of 2445 public elementary schools	86.9%	105				73.6	65.5	76.1				84.0	72.9	73.4				61.0	$30,698	$1,675	$29,023

Frequently Asked Questions about Ps 503 School Of Discovery (The)

What is the racial makeup of Ps 503 School Of Discovery (The)?

Students at Ps 503 School Of Discovery (The) are 76% Hispanic, 14% Asian, 8% White.

What district is Ps 503 School Of Discovery (The) in?

New York City Geographic District #20

How many students attend Ps 503 School Of Discovery (The)?

In the 2024-25 school year, 550 students attended Ps 503 School Of Discovery (The).

Is Ps 503 School Of Discovery (The) a good school?

Ps 503 School Of Discovery (The) ranks 1133^rd of 2445 New York elementary schools. SchoolDigger rates this school 3 stars out of 5.

What schools do graduates of Ps 503 School Of Discovery (The) attend?

Students who attend Ps 503 School Of Discovery (The) usually go on to attend:

Middle : Junior High School 220 John J Pershing
High : Fort Hamilton High School

Rate Ps 503 School Of Discovery (The)!

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SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau, the WNYC and the New York State Department of Health and the NY State Education Department.

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS: Not all boundaries are included. We make every effort to ensure that boundaries are up-to-date. But it's important to note that these are approximations and are for general informational purposes only. To verify legal descriptions of boundaries or school locations, contact your local tax assessor's office and/or school district.