P.S. 162 John Golden

Math proficiency of 80.7% sits roughly at the district average of 80.2%, while ELA proficiency of 71.6% trails the district's 75.8%. Both subjects, though, just posted their strongest results in years — ELA jumped from 57% in 2024 to 71.6% in 2025, and math climbed from 78.7% to 80.7%. The trajectory is clearly improving after a post-pandemic dip in 2022. Among tested grades, fifth-graders led in ELA (82.8%) and fourth-graders led in math (88.4%), suggesting the school is doing especially well with its older elementary students.

Parent satisfaction runs at 94% — comfortably above the district's 92% — and trust between families and staff is unusually high across the board: 98% parent-teacher trust, 97% parent-principal trust, and a remarkable 100% of families report strong teacher relationships. Discipline is essentially a non-issue, with zero suspensions for three straight years. The one notable gap is teacher-reported instruction quality at 79%, well below the district's 90% average, which is worth asking about. Chronic absenteeism is reported at 87.4%, which is high on its face, though overall attendance is a healthy 95.8%.

P.S. 162's enrollment is 73% Asian, with White and Hispanic students each around 12% and a small Black and multiracial presence — a diversity index of 50% that reflects real variety despite the Asian majority. Sixteen percent of students have IEPs and the economic need index sits at 52.9, a middle-band figure. The school mirrors its Auburndale surroundings: a neighborhood where 67% of households own their homes, the median home value is over $900,000, and poverty is unusually low at 8.7%. This is largely a stable, middle-class and professional-family zoned school.

Auburndale is a quiet, owner-occupied pocket of eastern Queens where about one in five households include children and more than a third of adults hold a bachelor's degree. Median household income sits around $87,000 and homeownership is the norm rather than the exception, giving the area a settled, suburban feel that differs sharply from Manhattan-facing Queens neighborhoods. The school fits into this residential rhythm — families here tend to put down roots, not pass through.

There are no subway stations within a 20-minute walk of the school, so families typically get there by car, school bus, or local bus routes.