Waterside School For Leadership

Waterside's 50.4% ELA proficiency sits roughly 6 points below the District 27 average of 56%, and its 34.6% math proficiency trails the district's 57.3% by a wide margin. The fair read on this data is to look at the trajectory, not the snapshot: in 2016 only 22.9% of students hit ELA proficiency and just 7.6% hit math; both have more than doubled since. The story inside the building is uneven by grade — 8th graders post a strong 67.8% ELA proficiency, while 6th graders land at 34.5%, suggesting students grow into the school's expectations over their middle school years.

The parent voice here is unusually strong: 93% parent satisfaction, 100% parent-teacher trust, and 100% parent-principal trust — well above district norms and a real signal that families feel connected. Teacher trust in the principal is also strong at 95%, though teachers rate their own instruction quality at 83%, below the district average of 91%. The two things any parent should know: chronic absenteeism is high at 64% (Black students are hit hardest at 70.9%), and suspensions more than doubled in 2023–24 to 7 total — a 4% rate, well above the district's 0.5%. These don't tell us the school is unsafe, but they tell us consistency and attendance are real day-to-day challenges.

About 54% of Waterside students are Black and 32% Hispanic, with smaller shares of White, Asian, and multiracial students — a student body that draws heavily from across Southeast Queens rather than mirroring the immediate neighborhood. The school's economic need index of 76.4 is high, meaning most students qualify for free or reduced lunch, while the surrounding census tract shows a median household income of $115,231 and a poverty rate of just 9.3%. About 32% of students have IEPs, well above typical, so families looking for strong special-education support may find a school accustomed to serving those needs.

The school sits in the Breezy Point–Belle Harbor–Rockaway Park–Broad Channel area of the Rockaways, a stretch of Queens defined by detached single-family homes, a 65.9% homeownership rate, and a median home value of $784,118. Just 18.4% of neighborhood households include children, which means the school is a small but visible kid presence in a community that skews older and more established. TheBA+ attainment rate of 45.8% signals a well-educated adult population, even if the families sending kids here come from a wider geography.

Two A and S train stops are about a 5-minute walk away — Beach 105 St and Rockaway Park-Beach 116 St — with Beach 98 St a longer 13-minute walk on the same lines.