P.S. 096 Joseph Lanzetta

ELA proficiency sits at 19.7% against a district average near 50%, and math at 18.3% against a district average around 45% — students here are catching up, not leading. The longer arc is more encouraging: ELA rose from 14.9% in 2016 to a peak of 25.9% in 2023, and math climbed from 8.1% to a high of 22.4% in 2024, so the school has made real year-over-year progress from a very low starting point. The 2025 dip in ELA (back to 19.7%) and math (back to 18.3%) breaks that momentum and is worth watching. Science proficiency of 10.9% is a third weak spot. Grade 7 is the strongest cohort on both ELA (25.6%) and math (21.7%); Grade 4 math at 8.7% is the weakest cell in the building.

The school reads as warm and family-connected on paper: 89% parent satisfaction, 95% parent-principal trust, 90% parent-teacher trust, and 96% teacher-principal trust — most adults in the building say the adults are working well together. Teachers report feeling safe (85%, roughly even with the district) and give the principal strong marks. The daily-attendance rate of 89% is a hair above the district average, which sounds fine until you learn that 57% of students are chronically absent — over half the kids are missing enough school to meaningfully erode learning, and that is the single biggest barrier in the building. Discipline is moving in the right direction: suspensions fell from 8 in 2022–23 to 3 in 2023–24, a real and welcome drop.

P.S. 96's student body mirrors the neighborhood around it: 68% Hispanic and 26% Black, with a 93.2 economic need index that reflects a community where most families qualify for free lunch and many are working multiple jobs. Twenty-eight percent of students have IEPs — a meaningfully higher share than the citywide average — and ELL support is part of the everyday program. The school serves 368 students across PK through 8 with an average class size right at the district norm of 20, so it has the feel of a tight-knit community where most families live within walking distance.

East Harlem (North) is a working-class, predominantly Latino and Black neighborhood where median household income sits around $36,700 and roughly a third of households live below the poverty line. Just under 30% of adults hold a bachelor's degree, homeownership is rare (around 8%), and the median home value reflects the broader Manhattan market more than the neighborhood's income. About 11% of households include children — a lower share than many parents expect, which is why so many P.S. 96 kids arrive from outside the immediate census tract.

The 6 train at 116 St is about a 5-minute walk, the 4/5/6 at 125 St is about 7 minutes, and the 6 at 110 St is about 10 minutes — three reasonable subway options for drop-off and pickup.