At a Glance
A zoned Queens elementary riding a strong upward academic trend, with survey scores that outshine its test scores.
Best suited for
Families who live in the zoned area, want a stable K-5 with strong parent-teacher relationships and solid math instruction, and are willing to prioritize daily school attendance.
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
- Math proficiency at 72.4% running comfortably above the district average, with fourth-graders hitting 82%
- Teacher-reported safety at 100% and zero suspensions across the last three school years
- Parent-teacher trust at 96% and parent satisfaction at 95% — among the strongest in the district
- An unusually diverse K-5 within a family-dense, transit-accessible neighborhood
- A clear decade-long improvement in test scores, with ELA up 17 points and math up roughly 22 points since 2016
Things to consider
- Chronic absenteeism sits at 70.9%, which is high — most families will want to think deliberately about consistent daily attendance
- Average class size is 24.5, basically identical to the district average, so don't expect unusually small cohorts
- ELA dipped noticeably in 2024 before rebounding, so yearly swings are worth watching
- It's a zoned school, so getting in depends on address — there's no application lottery or selective admissions path
- Asian students show particularly high chronic absenteeism (80.6%), a sub-group pattern worth asking about at a tour
Based on 2024-25 data
School SummaryDistrict 28
Within District 28 — a large and generally strong Queens district — P.S. 139 sits comfortably above average on test scores, surveys, and overall rating, ranked among the higher-performing zoned elementaries in the area but not at the very top.
Academics
Proficiency has climbed meaningfully over the last decade — ELA went from 50.2% in 2016 to 67.2% in 2025, and math from 50.7% to 72.4% — putting the school noticeably above district averages (62.8% ELA, 62.8% math). Math is the stronger subject, with fourth-graders hitting 82% proficiency. ELA slipped a bit from 65.3% in 2023 to 57.3% in 2024 before rebounding to 67.2% this year, so the trend is generally positive with some year-to-year noise.
Culture
Day-to-day, parents and teachers clearly get along: 95% parent satisfaction, 96% parent-teacher trust, 94% teacher instruction quality, and a perfect 100% on teacher-reported safety. Attendance is solid at 92.4% (above the 91.4% district average), and discipline is essentially a non-issue with zero suspensions across three years. The one number worth flagging is chronic absenteeism at 70.9% — meaning most students miss 10% or more of the school year — which is high even by citywide standards and may say more about family scheduling and engagement patterns than about the school itself.
Community
The student body reflects Rego Park's blend of post-war middle-class families and newer immigrant households: 35% White, 32% Hispanic, 26% Asian, with smaller Black and multiracial populations, and a diversity index of 74%. About 19% of students have IEPs and the economic need index sits at 56.2 — middling, meaning a meaningful share of families are working-class or below the poverty line alongside middle-class peers. It is, in other words, a fairly typical Queens K-5 that genuinely mixes income levels and home languages.
Neighborhood
Rego Park is a quiet middle-class pocket of central Queens — about half of neighborhood adults have a bachelor's degree, median household income is $83,620, and homeownership sits around 44%, meaning plenty of families stay for the long haul. There's a real family presence on the sidewalks, with about 18% of households including children. It's the kind of place where parents know each other from the playground and the local bakery line.
Multiple M/R train stops are close by — 63 Dr-Rego Park is about a 3-minute walk, with Woodhaven Blvd and 67 Av both around 10–11 minutes on foot.
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) · 228 families responded (41% rate)
Racial & Ethnic Diversity
NYC DOE InfoHub · 2022-23
Discipline
NYSED Student & Educator Database (2023-24)
Economic Need & Special Populations
How to get in, step by step
Kindergarten
P.S. 139 Rego Park has an attendance zone. At elementary level, in-zone students get a guaranteed seat. Every family still applies on MySchools: the application confirms the zoned seat, and ranking other schools doesn't cost you it.
Kindergarten application
- Opens
- Wed, Dec 9
- Closes
- Fri, Jan 22
- Offers
- Tue, Mar 30
The DOE’s published dates.
- 1Check that your address is inside the zone — zones change, so confirm it before you sign a lease.
- 2Apply during the kindergarten application, even with a zoned seat.
- 3Rank this school along with any others you'd take, in true preference order.
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. 139 Rego Park a good school?
- On Motley, P.S. 139 Rego Park earns an overall rating of 70/100 — 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 above the District 28 average.
- What grades does P.S. 139 Rego Park serve?
- P.S. 139 Rego Park serves grades K to 5.
- How do students get into P.S. 139 Rego Park?
- P.S. 139 Rego Park admits by zone — children who live in its attendance zone get a guaranteed seat.
- Is P.S. 139 Rego Park public, charter, or private?
- P.S. 139 Rego Park is a public school in NYC Community School District 28.
- What neighborhood is P.S. 139 Rego Park in?
- P.S. 139 Rego Park is in Rego Park, Queens.