P.S. 033 Timothy Dwight

P.S. 033's proficiency rates sit meaningfully below the District 10 average — ELA proficiency is 29.9% compared to a district average around 45%, and math proficiency is 32.1% against a district average around 43.5%. The trend over the past decade has been uneven but generally upward: ELA climbed from 20.1% in 2016 to 29.9% in 2025, and math rose from 23.6% to 32.1% over the same period, with some dips in between. There are real bright spots by grade — 4th graders hit 43.9% proficiency in math, close to the district middle, while 3rd and 5th graders lag further behind. Overall, students here are catching up rather than leading, with progress that is real but slow.

The day-to-day feel at P.S. 033 mixes genuine warmth between home and school with some concerns behind the numbers. Parent-teacher trust sits at 96% and 100% of surveyed families say there are strong relationships — these are striking, very high marks. But teacher-reported safety is 76%, well below the district average of about 87%, which is something parents should know about. Teacher instruction quality at 87% also trails the district average of 91%. Discipline is a quiet area: the school recorded zero suspensions in each of the last three years, suggesting either a calm environment or underreporting — either way, families will want to ask about how behavior issues are handled. Attendance is 87.2%, below the district average of 90.8%, and chronic absenteeism is high at 50.4%, meaning half the students miss 10% or more of school days.

P.S. 033 is, in demographic terms, heavily Dominican and Latinx: 89% of students are Hispanic, 9% are Black, and the remaining 2% is split among Asian, White, multiracial, and Native American families. This matches the surrounding Fordham Heights neighborhood closely. The economic need index is 93 out of 100, one of the higher figures you'll see in District 10, reflecting the high poverty rate in the census area (32.6%) and the median household income of about $40,000. Nineteen percent of students have IEPs, which is on the higher side for an elementary school.

Fordham Heights is a densely renter-occupied, predominantly Hispanic stretch of the central Bronx. Median household income is around $40,304, about a third of families live below the poverty line, and only about 1.1% of households own their home. Just 11.4% of adults here hold a bachelor's degree, and 19.9% of households have children under 18. It's a transit-accessible, working-class neighborhood where many families are multi-generational and a lot of kids grow up in close quarters with grandparents and cousins.

Two of the four lines and a short walk from another station: Fordham Rd on the 4 is about a 2-minute walk, Fordham Rd on the B and D is about a 4-minute walk, and 183 St on the 4 is about a 6-minute walk. Car-free commutes are very doable from most of the neighborhood.