At a Glance
A tiny Lower East Side inclusion school where parents feel deeply heard but state test scores run about half the district average
Best suited for
Families prioritizing inclusion support for students with disabilities, a tight small-school community, restorative discipline, and high parent-school trust — and who are comfortable navigating a lower state-test-score profile.
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
- 38% IEP enrollment — far above the typical elementary school, signaling deep inclusion support
- Zero suspensions across three consecutive years, reflecting a consistent restorative approach
- 95% parent satisfaction and 98% parent-teacher trust, paired with 100% reporting strong relationships
- One of the smallest elementary schools in District 1 at 177 students, which keeps the community very tight
Things to consider
- State test scores run roughly half the district average, with significant swings by grade and year
- 41% chronic absenteeism — well above what most schools see, worth asking the school how they're addressing it
- The gap between rave parent reviews (95% satisfaction) and teacher-leader trust (41%) is a question worth pressing on a tour
- PTA raises just $8 per student versus the district's $272 — enrichment and fundraising muscle are limited
- Teacher-reported safety at 59% sits well below the 91% district average
Based on 2024-25 data
School SummaryDistrict 1
Within District 1, P.S. 134 sits near the bottom of peer schools — its overall score of 1.03/4 is well below the district's 1.98 average, while standouts like NEST (99/100) and Shuang Wen (87/100) sit far above. It is a small, mission-driven school serving a specific population rather than a typical academically driven District 1 elementary.
Academics
ELA proficiency at 26.7% is about half the district average of 51.7%, and math at 24.6% is well under the district's 47.4%. The overall score of 1.03 out of 4 sits far below the district's 1.98. Scores bounce around year to year — likely a function of how small the school is and how much each cohort shifts the average — with ELA swinging from a low of 10.8% to a high of 35% over the past decade, and the within-school gap between grades is striking (Grade 4 hit 55% ELA while Grade 5 landed at 6.3%).
Culture
Three straight years with zero suspensions signals a clear restorative-discipline approach, and the parent survey numbers are exceptional — 95% satisfaction, 98% parent-teacher trust, 100% "strong relationships," and 98% parent-principal trust. But teacher voices tell a more uneven story: teacher-principal trust sits at just 41%, instruction quality at 74% (vs the district's 87%), and teacher-reported safety at 59% — meaningfully below the 91% district average. Attendance at 87.1% runs slightly below the district average, and chronic absenteeism is high at 41.1%.
Community
At 177 students this is one of the smallest elementary schools in the district, and the body is roughly 58% Hispanic, 29% Black, 7% Asian, and 3% multi-racial. The 38% IEP rate is among the highest in the area and shapes the daily feel — the school is built to support a wide range of learners. The surrounding Lower East Side neighborhood shares much of that diversity, with a median household income near $58,000 and a 23% poverty rate.
Neighborhood
The Lower East Side around the school is densely urban and predominantly renter-occupied, with homeownership under a quarter of households. Median household income sits near $58,000 and about a quarter of residents live below the poverty line, while over 44% of adults hold a bachelor's degree — a neighborhood of renters with both economic pressure and strong educational attainment. Families get around mostly by subway.
The school is about a 7-minute walk from the Delancey St-Essex St station (M, J, and Z lines) and roughly 8 minutes from the F train at the same complex, plus about 7 minutes from the East Broadway F train.
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) · 60 families responded (40% rate)
Racial & Ethnic Diversity
NYC DOE InfoHub · 2022-23
PTA Fundraising
Source: DOE Local Law 171 disclosure
Discipline
NYSED Student & Educator Database (2023-24)
Economic Need & Special Populations
How to get in, step by step
Pre-K
P.S. 134 Henrietta Szold also has Pre-K classes. They're a separate application from kindergarten, made on MySchools.
Pre-K application
Applications typically open in the winter and close in the spring, with offers in late spring; the city announces exact dates each year.
Kindergarten
District 1 is a school-choice district, so it has no elementary zones: no address guarantees a seat at P.S. 134 Henrietta Szold. Families across the district apply on MySchools, and seats go to priority groups first (siblings, then families in the district), then by random lottery.
Kindergarten application
- Opens
- Wed, Dec 9
- Closes
- Fri, Jan 22
- Offers
- Tue, Mar 30
The DOE’s published dates.
- 1Apply on MySchools during the kindergarten application.
- 2Rank every school you'd accept, in true preference order — with no zoned seat to fall back on, a longer list matters.
Open houses and tours
We haven’t seen open-house dates for this school yet.
From the MySchools admissions calendar, checked weekly.
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Frequently Asked Questions
- Is P.S. 134 Henrietta Szold a good school?
- On Motley, P.S. 134 Henrietta Szold earns an overall rating of 26/100 — 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 1 average.
- What grades does P.S. 134 Henrietta Szold serve?
- P.S. 134 Henrietta Szold serves grades Pre-K to 5.
- How do students get into P.S. 134 Henrietta Szold?
- P.S. 134 Henrietta Szold admits by application through a random lottery, with no academic screen.
- Is P.S. 134 Henrietta Szold public, charter, or private?
- P.S. 134 Henrietta Szold is a public school in NYC Community School District 1.
- What neighborhood is P.S. 134 Henrietta Szold in?
- P.S. 134 Henrietta Szold is in Lower East Side, Manhattan.