I.S. 296 The Anna Gonzalez Community School

Located in a low-income neighborhood, IS 296 consistently failed to educate most students. In 2011, only 14 percent students were reading on grade level. Fewer than 20 percent were on grade level in math.

After years of sub-par performance and a dangerous atmosphere in the building, the Department of Education closed IS 296 in 2014.

Both staff and students reported feeling unsafe at IS 296, according to the Learning Environment Survey. A Daily News article written in April 2005 describes a day at the school: "The school librarian was punched in the stomach by a student carrying a knife who stormed into the library allegedly swigging alcohol. A student broke down the office door of a dean with a chair. A teacher injured his leg when he was knocked over by a horde of students rampaging through the hallway. Welcome to life at Intermediate School 296 in Bushwick - the most out-of-control middle school in the city, according to teachers union statistics."

The IS 296 building is shared with Achievement First Bushwick Charter School, a District 75 school for autistic children and, as of 2012, The Evergreen Middle School for Urban Exploration. Students zoned for IS 296 get preference at that school. (Pamela Wheaton, web reports, March 2012; updated August 2014)