Our World Neighborhood Charter School, Astoria NY

Original Research by School Decision on Our World Neighborhood Charter School

Our World Neighborhood Charter School is a K-8 charter school in Astoria serving a student body that is diverse and economically mixed. About three-fifths of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, and the enrollment reflects the neighborhood's international composition, with substantial shares of Hispanic, white, Asian, and other students. The school's enrollment is stable, running around seven hundred students distributed relatively evenly across its nine grades.

Academic performance across the tested grades shows proficiency rates in the mid-to-high range for both math and English language arts. In English, proficiency is stronger in the upper grades, with eighth-grade students reaching a notably high mark, while math proficiency stays fairly steady across the elementary and middle range, with a dip in sixth grade. Science proficiency in fifth grade runs somewhat lower than math and ELA, and the school reports testing data only in sampled grades. Across tested subjects and grades, the school's overall proficiency index places it in the top quartile among the county's districts, a meaningful strength.

The data does not include graduation rates or chronic absenteeism figures, neither of which apply to a K-8 school; information on special education and English learner enrollment and services was not available.

The school is undergoing a significant instructional shift toward the International Baccalaureate framework, pursuing candidate status for both the Primary Years Programme at the elementary level and the Middle Years Programme in the middle grades. If authorization is granted, this would reshape classroom practice around inquiry-based learning, internationally minded curriculum, and IB assessment approaches. The shift is not yet complete, and families should verify the current implementation status and what specific changes this means for their grade level.

The school is anchored within the Our World Neighborhood Charter School network, which has grown from the original Astoria K-8 campus to include schools in Howard Beach and the Corona/Long Island City area. The operator continues to expand, requesting middle school additions and pursuing new charter authorizations, signaling organizational stability and growth but also indicating that the network is adding complexity.

Astoria itself is a dense, walkable neighborhood with low-rise and mid-rise buildings, strong foot traffic along commercial corridors like Steinway Street and 30th Avenue, and a diverse resident base drawn from more than eighty countries. The neighborhood anchors around Astoria Park, a major waterfront civic space, and is well-served by subway transit and ferry service. Housing values and rents have been rising as the neighborhood has gentrified steadily; several large-scale residential developments are underway or recently completed on the waterfront. Major employers include Kaufman Astoria Studios and Mount Sinai Queens. The area has the feel of what residents call "a village within the city," with quiet residential blocks interspersed with lively commercial streets and a strong sense of community identity.

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Academic performance

How students perform on state tests, by grade, set against the district.

New York Regents Exams

2 courses reported · 2024-25

End-of-course exams required for a New York Regents diploma. Each row shows the cohort size and the share of students scoring at the proficient level or higher.

Course	Students tested	% proficient
Math	26	100.0%
Science	26	100.0%

Math

Grade 365%

School 65% · district not reported

▲ 6 pts above state median · ▼ 5 pts below county median

Grade 464%

School 64% · district not reported

▲ 6 pts above state median · ▼ 3 pts below county median

Grade 561%

School 61% · district not reported

▲ 9 pts above state median · even with county median

Grade 655%

School 55% · district not reported

▲ 10 pts above state median · ▲ 5 pts above county median

Grade 774%

School 74% · district not reported

▲ 21 pts above state median · ▲ 10 pts above county median

Grade 862%

School 62% · district not reported

▲ 24 pts above state median · ▲ 33 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 364%

School 64% · district not reported

▲ 12 pts above state median · ▲ 2 pts above county median

Grade 467%

School 67% · district not reported

▲ 14 pts above state median · ▲ 6 pts above county median

Grade 570%

School 70% · district not reported

▲ 16 pts above state median · ▲ 8 pts above county median

Grade 670%

School 70% · district not reported

▲ 24 pts above state median · ▲ 14 pts above county median

Grade 764%

School 64% · district not reported

▲ 17 pts above state median · ▲ 7 pts above county median

Grade 881%

School 81% · district not reported

▲ 32 pts above state median · ▲ 22 pts above county median

Science

Grade 555%

School 55% · district not reported

▲ 13 pts above state median · ▲ 11 pts above county median

Grade 865%

School 65% · district not reported

▲ 32 pts above state median · ▲ 41 pts above county median

Social studies

Grade 588%

School 88% · district not reported

▼ 4 pts below state median · ▼ 1 pts below county median

Grade 895%

School 95% · district not reported

▲ 17 pts above state median · ▲ 40 pts above county median

This schoolDistrict average, same grade

Graduation rate (ACGR) reflects the federally published Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate for the most recent year available. We refresh this data annually at the close of each academic year in June. The federal source publishes a banded rate (for example, "90-94%") instead of an exact number for cohorts small enough to risk identifying individual students. The state distribution chart, where shown, plots every school in the state with a published rate or band; schools whose rate is federally suppressed are excluded. Where the federal source publishes a band rather than an exact rate, the school is placed within its band using a stable, ID-derived offset, so its position is consistent across visits.

Proficiency by household income

English language arts

Grade 3Lower-income54%Higher-income77%23 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income61%Higher-income74%14 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income51%Higher-income92%41 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income64%Higher-income82%18 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income58%Higher-income77%19 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income74%Higher-income95%20 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income50%Higher-income86%36 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income58%Higher-income72%14 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income50%Higher-income72%22 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income51%Higher-income65%14 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income69%Higher-income86%17 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income55%Higher-income80%25 pp gap