Their Brooklyn school became a national symbol of failure. Here’s what parents have to say.

On a bright Wednesday morning in Brooklyn, students walked into P.S. 307 holding their parents’ hands or tumbled out of a yellow school bus. A crossing guard, a security officer, the principal, and others greeted them warmly. 

An observer would never know that the school has been the subject of nationwide furor following Nikole Hannah-Jones’ New York Times essay about her daughter’s negative experience there years earlier. Overnight, P.S. 307 had to some become a national exemplar of a failing school. 

Since Hannah-Jones’ daughter left, the school has gotten a new principal, and I was curious what parents think of it now. 

What they told me was striking and perhaps surprising. Among the dozen parents I spoke to, nearly all of them praised the school’s staff, programs, and communication. Most parents hadn’t heard that the school was in the national news.

It’s “wonderful, very good. I love the way they interact with the children,” said Sheila Langley, after dropping off her first grader. Jessica Ramos, the parent of a fourth grader, agreed: “I don’t have anything negative. Everything has met the standards of what I want for my kids.” When she’s sought out extra help, the school has provided it, she added.

This sample of parent perspectives doesn’t mean P.S. 307 is thriving now or that the serious problems described by Hannah-Jones have been resolved. The school still has low overall test scores, and some families might not have easy access to objective information about how their children are doing academically. 

But the generally positive takes show that many parents are happy with schools that are widely assumed to be low-performing, perhaps because they see and value things that are not easily measured. 

P.S. 307 parents praise teachers’ dedication and communication

I arrived outside of P.S. 307 on a recent Wednesday at 7:30 a.m., half an hour before the school day started. The school sits across from a public-housing complex, where it draws many of its students. It’s also blocks away from high-rises on the Brooklyn waterfront where one-bedroom condos are listed at over $1 million. The school is small, under 300 students as of last year, and includes a prekindergarten program. The vast majority of students come from lower-income families, and nearly half have a disability. 

The school’s principal was outside greeting students and families when I visited. He declined to speak with me. 

But most parents, aside from a few who were racing to work, were happy to talk. Parents’ comments centered on the care and the dedication of the staff. “It is a community and a family, and they treat every kid very well,” Brandon Mata, father of a second grader, told me after dropping his son off. “I can see that even down to the security guard — there is a familiarity.”

Mata had been concerned about how his 7-year-old son, a “pandemic baby,” would do in school. Indeed, his son struggled with the strict rules at a charter school he’d previously attended. Mata likes that his son has more independence at P.S. 307 and says teachers have worked with him on behavioral issues. 

He appreciates that the school doesn’t only call home when problems arise. A while back someone called to say that his son’s painting would be hung up in the school lobby, where it remains today. The one time Mata raised a concern — he didn’t like that a staff member showed his son a video on their personal phone — the school swiftly addressed it. 

Mata’s only complaint, surprisingly, was about resources. He wants the teachers to be better paid and the gym to be better stocked with equipment. After Hannah-Jones’ article was released, many commentators noted that P.S. 307 has a high level of per-pupil funding.

Mata is pleased with his son’s academic progress, and the school says he’s testing well above average.

Overall, though, only about 1 in 4 third through fifth graders at P.S. 307 scored proficient on state exams in 2025. These scores are estimates of whether children are learning the basic math and reading skills they will need to succeed throughout school and eventually adulthood. National surveys show that parents often believe, based on information provided by the school, that their child is on grade level, even when tests show otherwise.

In a follow-up call, I asked Mata if he knew about P.S. 307’s poor test scores. He didn’t, so I shared them. “That kind of concerns me and surprises me because I don't think that's being communicated to the parents properly,” he replied. Yet Mata is not convinced those numbers are a reflection of the school, as opposed to external or family factors. “You gotta work with what you got,” he said. 

In a recent piece, I described why it’s difficult to objectively evaluate the performance of elementary schools like P.S. 307. Students come in at different levels with different needs, so looking at raw scores can be misleading. In 2025, fourth and fifth graders at P.S. 307 made slightly above average growth on state tests. 

The group of parents I talked to does not seem to have been an unusually positive bunch. In surveys administered by the city, P.S. 307 families also gave the school high marks. For instance, 96% of those who responded to the survey in 2025 said teachers worked closely with parents to meet students’ needs. (The school also had decent parent ratings when Hannah-Jones’ daughter was there.)

This high level of parent satisfaction is not as surprising as it may seem. Polls have long shown that while the public rates American schools as poor, most families give their own children’s school strong reviews. In New York City, there are widespread and relatively accessible school choice options.

The only P.S. 307 parent I spoke with who didn’t praise the school had just enrolled her daughter the day before, so she couldn’t judge yet. She picked the school because she had heard good things about it on Facebook. 

Parents react to Times piece

Nadirah Reynolds was one of just a handful of parents I spoke with who was familiar with the Times article. “It made me feel kind of sad because I know how hard they work within the school,” she said, noting that she wasn’t questioning Hannah-Jones’ experience as a parent.

Reynolds’ experience, though, has been “amazing” since she enrolled her daughter in preschool here a few years ago. The teachers are communicative, and her daughter seemed to be learning and growing. Reynolds has heard mostly positive things from other parents. Her daughter is in kindergarten, so she’ll be watching to see if any issues crop up as she moves on to later grades.

Carmen Tirado, mother of a fifth grader and preschool student, had also heard about the Times essay. Her three older sons, now all in high school, had previously graduated from the school, so she has seen it evolve. Tirado says the new principal has been a “very big upgrade” over the prior one, whom Hannah-Jones described as ineffective.

Tirado recommends the school to everyone, she says, and has an 8-month-old she plans to enroll in preschool here. “When she turns 3, they already have her folder and everything ready,” Tirado said.

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