Get more from InsideSchools

A Message from InsideSchools: The data below is the most up-to-date data available from City and State systems. We are working hard to update the narratives for all schools. We welcome your insights in the Comments section. Questions? Ask us!

P.S./I.S. 104 The Fort Hamilton School

Grades: K-8
Staff Pick
9115 5 Avenue
Brooklyn NY 11209
Phone: 718-836-4630

Our Insights

What’s Special

A warm, welcoming environment for students of all abilities

The Downside

Overcrowding

PS/IS 104 The Fort Hamilton School is a large school in Bay Ridge a short walk from the Verrazano Narrows Bridge. Right on Fifth Avenue, a commercial street running through the neighborhood, the school is housed in a large, stately building. Inside are stained glass windows, Tiffany lamps, and photographs of over a century of students going back to a humble schoolhouse. 

Marie DiBella, principal since 1996, has fostered a welcoming environment for students from the neighborhood, including military families from nearby Fort Hamilton. DiBella’s team of assistant principals make a point to “know their kids” well and help to ensure that students from all grades are part of the school community.  

Students are encouraged to do community service, including school-wide drives for organizations such as St. Jude’s and making Thanksgiving holiday baskets for families in need. The sense of school community is strengthened by the Book of the Month, where students at all grade levels read the same book and create projects around it. Students in the upper grades learn to take ownership of their school by working “jobs” like tutoring younger students, clean-up crews and safety patrol.

There is a “gifted and talented” class in each grade, but on our visit, we could see little difference between the work children were doing in general education classes and gifted classes. Kids are happily engaged and seem to be working at a high level in all classes. 

Students are grouped by their ability and interests within their classes, and teachers readjust the groups as students become stronger in certain areas, or need further support in others. In a Kindergarten class, some children were “collecting” words around the classroom on clipboards, while some worked on computers with headphones to learn new words, and others were practicing their vocabulary together with worksheets. 

The school is overcrowded, and many classrooms are cramped with 32 students. The school is housed in two separate buildings several blocks apart. The main building contains grades 2 through 8 and has a large auditorium, gymnasium, cafeteria, and schoolyard. The school's annex, the Fort Hamilton Early Childhood Center, houses Kindergarten and 1st grade. The annex is in an office building, but the inside is a cheerful and bright space for young children and includes its own cafeteria/gym and library. 

Special Education: The school offers self-contained and team-teaching classes. 

Admissions: Neighborhood school. The gifted and talented program admits students based on their scores on the G&T admissions test, administered by the Department of Education. The school does not have room for children outside the zone. (Melanie Quiroz, November 2018)

Read more

School Stats

Citywide Average Key
This school is Better Near Worse than the citywide average

Is this school safe and well-run?

From the 2020-21 NYC School Survey

How many students say they feel safe in the hallways, bathrooms and locker rooms?
79%
80% Citywide Average
How many students think bullying happens most or all of the time at this school?
59%
56% Citywide Average
How many teachers say the principal is an effective manager?
67%
78% Citywide Average

From the 2019-20 NY State Report Card

How many students were suspended?
0%
1% Citywide Average

From this school's most recent Quality Review Report

Are teachers effective?

From the 2021-22 School Quality Guide

How many teachers have 3 or more years of experience teaching?
92%
82% Citywide Average
Years of principal experience at this school
2.5

How do students perform academically?

From the New York State 2022-2023 Assessment Database

How many elementary school students scored 3-4 on the state math exam?
74%
53% Citywide Average
How many elementary school students scored 3-4 on the state reading exam?
67%
50% Citywide Average
How many middle school students scored 3-4 on the state math exam?
59%
52% Citywide Average
How many middle school students scored 3-4 on the state reading exam?
68%
57% Citywide Average

From the 2021-22 School Quality Guide

How many 8th-graders earn high school credit?
20%
39% Citywide Average

Who does this school serve?

From the 2022-23 Demographic Snapshot

Enrollment
1106
Asian
24%
Black
4%
Hispanic
26%
White
42%
Other
4%
Free or reduced priced lunch
62%
Students with disabilities
17%
English language learners
15%

From the 2021-22 School Quality Guide

Average daily attendance
94%
90% Citywide Average
How many students miss 18 or more days of school?
21%
38% Citywide Average

From the 2020 School Directories

Uniforms required?
No

How does this school serve special populations?

From the New York State 2022-2023 Assessment Database

How many students with disabilities scored 3-4 on the state math exam?
46%
27% Citywide Average
How many students with disabilities scored 3-4 on the state reading exam?
35%
21% Citywide Average
How many English language learners scored 3-4 on the state math exam?
31%
17% Citywide Average
How many English language learners scored 3-4 on the state reading exam?
23%
12% Citywide Average


For more information about our data sources, see About Our Data · More DOE statistics for this school

Contact & Location

Location

Bay Ridge (District 20)
Trains: R Line to Bay Ridge95th St
Buses: B1, B16, B37, B63, B70, B8, S53, S79-SBS, S93, X17, X27, X28, X37, X38

Contact

Principal
Suzanne Gordon
Parent Coordinator
Cynthia Mcmahon

Other Details

Shared campus?
No
This school is in its own building.
Uniforms required?
No
Metal detectors?
No

Zone for the 2019-2020 school year. Call school to confirm.

Was this information helpful?

Get more from InsideSchools

You may also like …

P.S./I.S. 30 Mary White Ovington

7002 4th Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11209

Comments

  • Is this your school? Please post any news, updates, events, changes, or other information!
  • We welcome questions, open discussions, and disagreements but comments with personal attacks, rude language, or those with seemingly malicious intent will be deleted.
  • Very long comments, those that contain links, or repeat comments may be blocked by our spam filter.
  • Problems? email us at contact@insideschools.org.
  • Users must comply with our Terms of Use.

×