Ps/is 224, Bronx NY - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Ps/is 224

PS/IS 224 is a middle school serving grades six through eight in the South Bronx, located in a neighborhood experiencing substantial new housing development and investment. The school serves a student body that is overwhelmingly economically disadvantaged, with nearly all students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch. The majority of enrolled students are Hispanic, with a meaningful share identifying as Black; the school also enrolls a small number of American Indian and Native Hawaiian students, a handful of white students, and no Asian students currently.

The academic picture at PS/IS 224 reflects significant challenges. In mathematics, proficiency rates are low across the tested grades: sixth-grade students show very limited proficiency, seventh graders perform better but still well below the state midline, and no eighth-grade math results are available. In English language arts, sixth graders demonstrate similarly low proficiency, seventh graders show modest gains, and eighth graders post the school's strongest ELA result, though still in a narrow band of attainment. Science testing data at grade eight is absent. When proficiency is measured across all tested subjects and grades, PS/IS 224 sits in the bottom quartile among districts in Bronx County. The school's test participation rates suggest that testing administration has occurred but with incomplete coverage across grades and some students not participating.

As a middle school, PS/IS 224 does not report a graduation rate, which is not applicable to this grade band. No data on chronic absenteeism, discipline, course access, or staffing profiles were available. The school's enrollment is small for a middle school, with roughly balanced cohorts across the three grades, though with uneven testing participation.

The South Bronx location places the school in a neighborhood actively transforming through new affordable housing development. Major projects like Fordham Landing South and the La Central waterfront expansion are adding thousands of affordable homes, supported by substantial state and city investment. The neighborhood has strong transit access, including subway lines that connect to the wider city, and sits within walking distance of commercial corridors and civic anchors like parks.

This is a school serving a community facing deep economic need, with nearly universal poverty among its students. The academic results show that students are not yet meeting state proficiency benchmarks at meaningful rates. A parent considering this school or looking to understand its role in the district may want to speak directly with staff about the specific supports being offered, recent trends in student outcomes, and the school's approach to instruction, particularly given the district-wide shift to science-of-reading phonics curricula for early literacy that affects the foundation students bring to middle grades.

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Academic performance

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

New York Regents Exams

4 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
Science	38	37.0%
Social Studies	23	57.0%
Ela	20	25.0%
Math	8	13.0%

Math

Grade 611%

School 11% · District 29% · ▼ 18 pts below district

▼ 34 pts below state median · ▼ 29 pts below county median

Grade 740%

School 40% · District 38% · ▲ 2 pts above district

▼ 13 pts below state median · ▼ 9 pts below county median

Grade 80%

School 0% · District 32% · ▼ 32 pts below district

▼ 37 pts below state median · ▼ 37 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 614%

School 14% · District 29% · ▼ 15 pts below district

▼ 32 pts below state median · ▼ 27 pts below county median

Grade 734%

School 34% · District 36% · ▼ 2 pts below district

▼ 13 pts below state median · ▼ 13 pts below county median

Grade 837%

School 37% · District 39% · ▼ 2 pts below district

▼ 12 pts below state median · ▼ 13 pts below county median

Science

Grade 80%

School 0% · District 26% · ▼ 26 pts below district

▼ 33 pts below state median · ▼ 28 pts below county median

This schoolNEW YORK CITY GEOGRAPHIC DISTRICT # 7, 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.