P.S. 121 Throop

Test scores at P.S. 121 have moved more in the last three years than in the previous decade combined. ELA proficiency climbed from 27.2% in 2022 to 47.4% in 2025, and math went from 31.6% to 50.4% over the same window — a striking recovery from pandemic-era lows. Even so, both subjects remain below the District 11 averages (ELA 56.7%, math 55.6%), and the overall quality review score of 1.96 out of 4 trails the district's 2.25. The bright spot is the upper grades: fifth-graders hit 56.8% in ELA, essentially matching the district, suggesting that growth compounds the longer students stay. The trajectory is the headline here, not the current level.

The family side of the school feels warm and connected — 93% parent satisfaction and 94% parent-teacher trust are at or above the district average, and 179 families took the survey, a healthy turnout. But the picture from inside the staffroom is more mixed. Teacher-rated instruction quality sits at 83% versus a district average of 92%, and teacher-principal trust is only 73%, the lowest score on the dashboard. Teacher-reported safety (91%) also runs below the district's 95%. On the upside, suspensions have been at zero for three straight years, which is genuinely notable. The chronic absenteeism rate of 60.2% is the biggest climate flag — well above the district's typical range — and it climbs to 78% among Asian students, a specific pattern worth asking the school about. Attendance overall (90%) is just shy of the district's 91.2%.

P.S. 121's enrollment of 580 students skews Black (44%) and Hispanic (41%), with a smaller but meaningful Asian population (10%) and a small White and Native American presence. The diversity index of 64% reflects a genuinely mixed building rather than two dominant groups. The economic need index of 73.4% signals that most families are working- or middle-class rather than affluent, and 16% of students have IEPs. What stands out is the PTA — families raised about $94 per student in 2024-25, more than four times the district average of $24, a sign of organized, invested parents even at a school with modest resources.

Pelham Gardens is a residential pocket of the eastern Bronx where more than half of households own their homes and the median home value is around $646,000 — solidly middle-class by city standards. Median household income of $90,004 sits comfortably above the city median, and the poverty rate of 13.1% is moderate. About 15% of households have children at home, and a third of adults have a bachelor's degree or higher. It's a quieter, settled area — the kind of place where families put down roots rather than pass through.

The 5 train is the subway for this school. Gun Hill Rd station is the closest at about a 7-minute walk, Pelham Pkwy is roughly 12 minutes, and Morris Park is about 20 minutes on foot.