P.S. 076 The Bennington School

P.S. 76's scores tell one of the more striking turnaround stories in District 11. From 2016 through 2022, fewer than a quarter of students hit proficiency in ELA and only 15–18% in math — well below district averages — before climbing sharply: 33% ELA / 30% math in 2023, then 38% / 49% in 2024, and now 54% / 55% in 2025, essentially matching the district average of 57% ELA and 56% math. The catch is that the climb is uneven across grades: fourth graders post 77% ELA and 67% math, while third graders land at 37% ELA and fifth graders at 53% ELA and 43% math, so proficiency varies year to year.

The classroom climate here looks genuinely positive by every survey metric that matters. Teachers rate instruction quality at 98% — well above the district's 92% — and parent-teacher trust (98%) and parent-principal trust (97%) suggest families feel heard, even though only about 11% of families bothered to fill out the survey. Zero suspensions across three straight years is rare and worth noting. The soft spot is attendance: 53.5% of students are chronically absent (missing 10% or more of the school year), especially Asian (63%) and Black (57%) students, while the daily attendance rate sits at 89.5% — a notch below the district's 91.2%.

P.S. 76's student body mirrors Allerton itself: roughly half Hispanic (49%) and just over a third Black (38%), with smaller Asian and White populations and a diversity index of 63%. The economic need index of 83% signals that most families come from lower-income households, and 21% of students have IEPs — meaningfully higher than a typical District 11 school. PTA fundraising runs about $20 per student, slightly below the district's $24 average, which tracks with the neighborhood income profile and means enrichment budgets are modest.

Allerton is a working-class corner of the Bronx where most homes are rentals, median household incomes hover in the mid-$40,000s, and about a quarter of residents live below the poverty line. Roughly one in six households includes children, and the adult college-degree rate sits around 21% — modest but not unusual for this part of the borough. The block is solidly residential and family-oriented, and the 2 and 5 trains thread through the neighborhood, giving families a workable commute into Manhattan or down to other Bronx destinations.

Most families walk or take the 2/5 from Burke Av (about 8 minutes), Allerton Av (about 9 minutes), or Gun Hill Rd (about 14 minutes).