At a Glance
A PK-8 neighborhood school in Cambria Heights where students are catching up — and the program menu punches well above the school's size.
Best suited for
Families in southeast Queens — especially in or near Cambria Heights — who want a small PK-8 with an unusually rich extracurricular menu, are willing to commit to daily attendance, and value a school where the principal is visibly trusted by parents.
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
- Program richness score of 100/100 — an unusually broad menu for a 417-student school, including accelerated/honors, NJHS, debate, chess, math team, and a full arts slate
- Saturday Academy and dedicated mentoring programs like Beautiful Me (girls) and My Brother's Keeper (boys) signal real investment beyond the school day
- Math proficiency has nearly tripled since 2022, marking the strongest academic turnaround among District 29 traditional schools
- Parent-principal trust at 95% is among the strongest in the district — families clearly feel connected to leadership
- Includes 22% IEP students alongside ELL support, with a wide range of electives suggesting meaningful inclusion rather than tracking
Things to consider
- Test scores remain well below the district average in both ELA and math — even with the recent gains
- Chronic absenteeism at 58% is high and almost certainly limits how fast scores can climb
- Teacher-reported safety at 82% runs roughly 12 points below the district average of 94% — worth asking the principal directly what this reflects
- No subway access within a 20-minute walk makes this a car, bus, or pickup-dependent commute for most families
- Teacher-principal trust (76%) is meaningfully lower than parent-principal trust (95%) — staff and families may see the school differently
Based on 2024-25 data
School SummaryDistrict 29
District 29's overall average is 2.21/4; P.S. 147 sits at 1.21/4, putting it below most of its traditional PS peers in southeast Queens. Two Success Academy charters in the district score much higher (95 and 91), but among unscreened zoned schools, P.S. 147 is on the lower end of the academic scale, even as its trajectory points in the right direction.
Academics
On the most recent state tests, 37.9% of students were proficient in ELA and 22.6% in math — roughly 19 and 31 points below District 29 averages, respectively. But the direction is the real story: ELA jumped from 28.2% to 37.9% in a single year, and math has nearly tripled since bottoming out at 8.5% in 2022. The school is still catching up rather than leading, but the momentum is real. Science proficiency (26.3%) and the 1.21/4 overall score confirm there's ground to cover, especially in upper elementary grades where math proficiency dips to 11.1% in Grade 5.
Culture
Attendance (87.9%) and chronic absenteeism (58%) are softer than the district — a meaningful share of students are missing extended stretches of school, and that almost certainly drags results down. On the parent side, the signals are strong: 89% parent satisfaction, 93% parent-teacher trust, and 95% trust in the principal suggest families feel heard and engaged. Teacher-reported safety (82%) and teacher-principal trust (76%) run noticeably below the district, hinting that staff have reservations not shared by parents. Discipline is light — four suspensions last year, down from seven the year before — with visible investment in restorative circles and mentoring.
Community
Roughly 81% of students are Black and 13% Hispanic, with small shares of Asian, multiracial, and Native American students — a student body more racially concentrated than NYC as a whole. The school serves a notably higher share of students with IEPs (22%) than is typical, and an economic need index of 63% means many families qualify for free lunch. By contrast, the surrounding Cambria Heights neighborhood is relatively well-off, with a median household income over $115K and an 86% homeownership rate — so the school clearly draws students from well beyond the immediate census tract.
Neighborhood
Cambria Heights is a stable, owner-occupied corner of southeast Queens: median household income sits around $115,000, poverty is low at roughly 5%, and 86% of households own their homes — a profile that feels more suburban than most of the city. About 15% of households include children under 18, and roughly a third of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher. The neighborhood skews family-rooted and multigenerational, consistent with the high homeownership rate.
There are no subway stations within a 20-minute walk of the school, so most families arrive by car, school bus, or local bus.
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
Science Proficiency
Students scoring proficient or above on the NY State Science 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) · 218 families responded (53% rate)
Programs & Activities
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
Pre-K
P.S./M.S. 147 Ronald McNair 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
P.S./M.S. 147 Ronald McNair 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.
Middle school (6th grade)
Middle school is one citywide application, made in 5th grade. P.S./M.S. 147 Ronald McNair admits through one program, and each one has its own admissions method:
- Ronald McNair (P.S./M.S. 147)Unscreened60 seats
Middle school application
- Opened
- Wed, Oct 14
- Closes
- Fri, Dec 11
- Offers
- Wed, Apr 7
The DOE’s published dates.
- 1Apply on MySchools during the middle school application, in 5th grade.
- 2Unscreened programs fill by random lottery among the families who rank them.
- 3Rank programs in true preference order — the match places your child in the highest-ranked one that offers a seat.
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./M.S. 147 Ronald McNair a good school?
- On Motley, P.S./M.S. 147 Ronald McNair earns an overall rating of 30/100 — 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 29 average.
- What grades does P.S./M.S. 147 Ronald McNair serve?
- P.S./M.S. 147 Ronald McNair serves grades Pre-K to 8.
- How do students get into P.S./M.S. 147 Ronald McNair?
- P.S./M.S. 147 Ronald McNair admits by application through a random lottery, with no academic screen.
- Is P.S./M.S. 147 Ronald McNair public, charter, or private?
- P.S./M.S. 147 Ronald McNair is a public school in NYC Community School District 29.
- What neighborhood is P.S./M.S. 147 Ronald McNair in?
- P.S./M.S. 147 Ronald McNair is in Cambria Heights, Queens.