P.S. 023 The New Children's School

About a quarter of students meet ELA standards (26.5%) and roughly one in nine meet math standards (11.8%) — both well below the district averages of about 45% ELA and 44% math. The ELA trend is genuinely encouraging: proficiency climbed from 11% in 2016 to a peak of 30.1% in 2022 before settling in the mid-20s, so reading instruction is moving in the right direction. Math, however, has been stuck in the 11–20% range for nearly a decade with no clear upward trajectory, and it lags badly even in the upper grades — only 13% of fifth graders met math standards last year.

Parents feel deeply connected to this school — 100% report strong relationships with teachers, 97% trust the principal, and 95% are satisfied overall — and the school hasn't issued a single suspension in three years. Teacher-reported safety, at 72%, sits noticeably below the district average of 87%, which is a flag worth a conversation if you're considering it. The harder number: chronic absenteeism runs at 58.9%, meaning well over half of students miss too many days of school, even though the overall attendance rate looks average. That gap suggests families value the school but getting kids through the door every day is a real challenge.

The student body is about 71% Hispanic and 27% Black, mirroring the Tremont neighborhood's demographics, and 94% of students qualify for economic need — among the highest in the district. Roughly 29% of students have IEPs, a high share that means classrooms include a wide range of learners. The school's diversity index is modest at 40%, reflecting that families in this zone are largely from similar backgrounds.

Tremont is a densely populated, predominantly renter neighborhood where the median household income is around $32,000 and only 15% of adults have a bachelor's degree. Just 7.5% of households own their homes, and only about 13% include children — so the families sending kids to P.S. 023 are a meaningful minority in a neighborhood dominated by adult renters. Getting around relies on the subway and buses; there isn't a stop right at the school.

Most kids likely walk or get dropped off, but for trips farther afield the closest stations are 182-183 Sts on the B and D lines (about an 8-minute walk), with Fordham Rd on the B and D and 183 St on the 4 each around 12 minutes on foot.