P.S. 056 Harry Eichler

The story here is trajectory. Math proficiency has climbed from 41.6% in 2016 to 64.4% this year — well above the district average of 57.3% — making this one of the bigger academic turnarounds in District 27. ELA has risen alongside it, from 43.8% to 59%, also clearing the district's 56% benchmark. Scores are remarkably consistent across grades 3, 4, and 5 (math in the mid-60s, ELA in the high-50s to low-60s), suggesting what works in one grade carries cleanly into the next.

Day-to-day this feels like a calm, high-trust place. Teachers overwhelmingly trust their principal (95%) and report feeling safe at 100% — both well above district averages. Parents are even more enthusiastic: parent-principal trust sits at 98% and parent-teacher trust at 97%, the kind of numbers you rarely see. The headline climate signal is the discipline record: zero suspensions over three consecutive years. The honest note: chronic absenteeism is 69.3%, meaning roughly two-thirds of students miss 10% or more of the school year, even though daily attendance lands at a solid 92%. Teacher-reported instruction quality at 82% lags the district's 90.9% — worth asking about on a visit.

The student body is majority Hispanic (54%) with a substantial Asian population (23%) and smaller white, Black, and Native American contingents — a mix that mirrors Richmond Hill's blend of Latin American, South Asian, and Indo-Caribbean families. An economic need index of 70.2 points to a working-class student body where most families are stretching to make ends meet, which tracks with the surrounding neighborhood's 11.7% poverty rate and median income of $78,245.

Richmond Hill is a family-dense pocket of Queens where kids still spill onto sidewalks — 23.5% of households here have children, well above the citywide norm. Homeownership is healthy at 47.3%, and median home values above $785,000 reflect how much this corner of Queens has revalued in recent years. Families lean on the J train for getting around: the 111th Street stop is a three-minute walk, the 121st Street J/Z stop is about nine minutes, and 104th Street is roughly eleven minutes on foot.

The J train at 111th Street is about a 3-minute walk, with the 121st Street (J, Z) stop about 9 minutes away and the 104th Street (J, Z) stop about 11 minutes on foot.