P.S./I.S. 266

Both ELA (60.2%) and math (61.8%) proficiency sit well below the District 26 averages of 75.8% and 80.2%, and the overall quality score of 2.44/4 is meaningfully below the district's 3.12 average. The historical trend is roughly stable rather than slipping — ELA has hovered in the high 50s to mid-60s for nearly a decade, and math dipped to 48.8% in 2022 but has rebounded into the low 60s. The most striking pattern is grade-by-grade: scores in grades 3-6 land in the 40s to low 60s, but grades 7 and 8 jump to 70-73% in ELA and 81-86% in math, a gap that suggests the upper-grade program — with offerings like Algebra I and Living Environment — is the school's academic strength.

The trust signals here are the bright spot. Parent-teacher trust sits at 96% and parent-principal trust at 92%, with 90% of families saying they're satisfied — numbers that suggest a real sense of partnership between home and school. Teachers are less rosy: 86% rate their own instruction quality (below the district's 89.9%), and teacher-reported safety at 86% is the most visible gap, well below the district's 97.7%. Chronic absenteeism is high at 77.2%, meaning more than three-quarters of students miss 10% or more of school days. Discipline is a clear positive — zero suspensions in the most recent year, with only one in the prior three.

The student body is one of the more racially balanced in a district where many schools are heavily Asian-American: 31% Asian, 28% Black, 26% Hispanic, 10% White, and 3% multiracial, with a diversity index of 82%. That mix doesn't perfectly mirror the surrounding Bellerose census tract, which is majority-Asian and middle-income — meaning a meaningful share of families are commuting in from elsewhere in Queens. The economic need index of 39.2% sits in the moderate range, and about a quarter of students have IEPs, which the school supports through general education inclusion.

Bellerose is a solidly middle-class, homeowner-heavy Queens neighborhood — median household income around $104,000, homeownership near 70%, and a typical home value in the mid-$600,000s. About 23% of households have children, and 38% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, giving the area a stable, family-oriented feel. The 8.3% poverty rate is low. It's the kind of place where neighbors know each other and school calendars tend to anchor the social calendar.

There are no subway stations within a 20-minute walk, so most families here get to school by car, bus, or on foot from nearby blocks — driving or a longer transit ride is the norm rather than the exception