P.S. 035 Franz Siegel

The 2025 results are genuinely surprising and worth flagging: ELA proficiency jumped from 18.8% to 42% and math from 22.1% to 38.9% in a single year. That puts the school very close to the District 9 averages (44.8% ELA, 44.7% math) for the first time in years — the previous decade of data shows scores consistently in the high teens to high twenties for ELA and teens for math. Whether this is a sustainable turnaround or a one-off result is the key question. Within the school, Grade 3 is clearly the strongest cohort (48.3% ELA, 54.2% math), while Grade 5 math at 22.6% drags the overall picture down. The school's overall quality score of 1.62/4 still sits below the district average of 1.79, so it's not yet a top performer, but the trajectory is worth watching.

The day-to-day feel here leans warm rather than tense. Zero suspensions over three consecutive years is exceptional for a school this size — it's clearly not a place where discipline is being handled by removing kids from class. Parents give very high marks for trust in teachers (97%) and the principal (97%), and 92% report overall satisfaction, just a touch below the district's 94%. Teachers, though, are more divided: 94% rate instruction quality favorably, but only 75% express trust in school leadership, and the teacher survey response count was small (20 teachers), so that number deserves some caution. Teacher-reported safety of 90% is notably above the district's 83%, which is reassuring.

The student body is 72% Hispanic, 24% Black, and just 2% White — a very specific demographic profile that mirrors the surrounding Concourse neighborhood, which has a poverty rate of 34% and a median household income of about $40,000. Nearly all students come from economically stressed households (economic need index of 91.7%), and 25% are classified as having IEPs. The diversity index of 42% reflects that this is largely a two-community school rather than a broadly mixed one, which can mean a strong cultural coherence but fewer opportunities for cross-cultural peer exposure.

Concourse-Concourse Village is a dense, working-class stretch of the South Bronx where most residents rent rather than own (homeownership is just 11%), about a third of households live below the poverty line, and only 16% of adults hold a bachelor's degree. Just under 14% of households include children, so families with school-age kids are a meaningful but not dominant share of the neighborhood. It's a transit-dependent area where most people get around by train rather than car.

The school is about a 9-minute walk from both the 167 St and 161 St-Yankee Stadium stations on the B and D lines, and the 161 St-Yankee Stadium station also serves the 4 train, so families have a few subway options but should expect a real walk regardless of which route they take.