At a Glance
A large zoned elementary in Soundview posting its best-ever test scores while running three straight years with zero suspensions — though chronic absenteeism remains the headline issue.
Best suited for
A family zoned for the school looking for a calm, suspension-free environment with strong parent-principal trust, who is willing to commit to getting their child to school every day.
Overall Rating
Rating = average of NY State ELA + math proficiency, grades 3–8
Bands are Motley's thresholds on a 0–100 scale, not New York State performance levels.
How this is scored→What stands out
- Posted its highest-ever ELA proficiency in 2025, with math nearly doubling since 2016.
- Three straight years with zero suspensions — not a blip on the radar.
- Teachers rate their own safety above the district average, and 96% of parents say they trust the principal.
- St Lawrence Avenue 6 train is a two-minute walk, with two more stations within nine minutes.
- One of the larger elementary schools in District 12, drawing on a heavily Hispanic but notably multi-racial enrollment.
Things to consider
- Two-thirds of students are chronically absent — a reality that affects every classroom no matter how strong the instruction is.
- Both ELA and math proficiency sit roughly 12 percentage points below district averages.
- Fourth-grade scores drop sharply from third grade (math falls from 53% to 22%); ask how the school supports that transition.
- Class sizes match the district average of about 22 — there's nothing unusually small here.
- With an economic need index near 90%, almost every family is navigating financial strain; the supports look different than at a school with more affluent families.
Based on 2024-25 data
School SummaryDistrict 12
Within District 12, P.S. 047's overall quality score of 1.31/4 sits below the district average of 1.76 and well below the South Bronx Classical, Bold Charter, and P.S. 066 peer scores — but its year-over-year academic trajectory is among the more positive stories in the district.
Academics
P.S. 047's proficiency rates (33% ELA, 33% math) sit roughly 12 percentage points below district averages in both subjects, and the overall quality score of 1.31/4 is below the district's 1.76. But the trajectory is the more interesting story: ELA has climbed from 19% in 2016 to 33% in 2025, and math has gone from 16% to 33% over the same period — 2025 is the highest ELA reading on record. Worth asking the school: third-graders post notably stronger results (43% ELA, 53% math) than fourth-graders (25% ELA, 22% math), with fifth grade landing back in between.
Culture
The daily environment reads as calm and unusually trusting: zero suspensions for three consecutive years, teacher-reported safety at 88% (above the district's 85%), and 93% of teachers say they trust their principal. Parents mirror that — 96% trust the principal and 93% trust their child's teacher — though only 88% call themselves "satisfied" overall. The big caveat is attendance: the 91% rate slightly beats the district, but chronic absenteeism sits at 65%, meaning roughly two of every three students cross the threshold for missing too much school.
Community
About nine in ten P.S. 047 students come from families the DOE flags as high economic need, and 17% are classified as IEP students — both numbers that tell you the school's population carries more outside pressures than average. The student body is 63% Hispanic, 19% Black, 13% Asian, 3% Native American, and 2% White, a mix that mirrors the surrounding Soundview neighborhood, where the median household income is $41,359 and roughly a third of residents live in poverty. With 846 kids enrolled, P.S. 047 is one of the larger elementary schools in the district.
Neighborhood
P.S. 047 sits in the Soundview-Bruckner-Bronx River area of the Bronx, a working-class, heavily renter neighborhood where only 13% of households own their homes and the median income hovers just above $41,000. About 16% of households include children, and 15% of adult residents hold a bachelor's degree — a neighborhood where most families are working long hours and getting to school each day is a real logistical lift.
St Lawrence Avenue (6 train) is about a two-minute walk, Parkchester (6) is roughly seven minutes, and Morrison Av–Soundview (6) is about nine minutes — one of the better-connected zoned elementary locations in the South Bronx.
Academic Performance
ELA Proficiency
Students scoring proficient or above on the NY State ELA exam.
NYC DOE InfoHub · 2022-23
Math Proficiency
Students scoring proficient or above on the NY State Math exam.
NYC DOE InfoHub · 2022-23
Historical Trends
The dashed line marks 2023, when New York changed its grades 3–8 state tests. Scores before and after it aren’t directly comparable.
2020–2021 data unavailable due to COVID-19
Source: NYC DOE School Quality Reports
Survey Results
NYC School Survey (2025) · 532 families responded (69% rate)
Racial & Ethnic Diversity
NYC DOE InfoHub · 2022-23
Discipline
NYSED Student & Educator Database (2023-24)
Economic Need & Special Populations
How to get in, step by step
Kindergarten
P.S. 047 John Randolph has an attendance zone. At elementary level, in-zone students get a guaranteed seat. Every family still applies on MySchools: the application confirms the zoned seat, and ranking other schools doesn't cost you it.
Kindergarten application
- Opens
- Wed, Dec 9
- Closes
- Fri, Jan 22
- Offers
- Tue, Mar 30
The DOE’s published dates.
- 1Check that your address is inside the zone — zones change, so confirm it before you sign a lease.
- 2Apply during the kindergarten application, even with a zoned seat.
- 3Rank this school along with any others you'd take, in true preference order.
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From the MySchools admissions calendar, checked weekly.
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Frequently Asked Questions
- Is P.S. 047 John Randolph a good school?
- On Motley, P.S. 047 John Randolph earns an overall rating of 33/100 — the average of the school's New York State ELA and math proficiency, grades 3–8, shown out of 100. Its state test results run below the District 12 average.
- What grades does P.S. 047 John Randolph serve?
- P.S. 047 John Randolph serves grades K to 5.
- How do students get into P.S. 047 John Randolph?
- P.S. 047 John Randolph admits by zone — children who live in its attendance zone get a guaranteed seat.
- Is P.S. 047 John Randolph public, charter, or private?
- P.S. 047 John Randolph is a public school in NYC Community School District 12.
- What neighborhood is P.S. 047 John Randolph in?
- P.S. 047 John Randolph is in Soundview-Bruckner-Bronx River, Bronx.