The top reported proficiency rate is 47% in Social studies. The lowest is 17% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Ps 246 Poe Center
PS 246 POE CENTER is an elementary school in the Bronx serving kindergarten through fifth grade, located on the Grand Concourse in a neighborhood marked by apartment buildings, commercial corridors, and the dense pedestrian life of the borough. The school serves a student body that is predominantly Hispanic, with a substantial share of Black and smaller numbers of white and Asian students. Nearly all students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, placing the school in a very low-income community. The total enrollment is small to mid-sized for an urban elementary school.
The school's academic results show a persistent challenge across both tested subjects and grade levels. In math, proficiency rates decline as students advance: third grade shows performance in the low-to-mid range, fourth grade drops slightly lower, and by fifth grade the rate falls notably. English language arts proficiency follows a similar pattern, starting slightly stronger in third grade but then declining through fourth and fifth grade, with fifth-grade ELA proficiency falling below math. Fifth-grade science proficiency is particularly low. Across all tested subjects and grades, PS 246's overall proficiency sits in the bottom quartile when compared with other schools across Bronx County districts. Reading comprehension and math reasoning appear to weaken rather than strengthen as students move through the upper elementary grades, which may warrant discussion with school leadership about how instruction builds across grade levels.
A noteworthy context for the school's approach to reading is that all New York City elementary schools, including PS 246, are now required to use one of three state-approved phonics-based reading curriculums as part of the NYC Reads mandate, implemented in this district during the 2024-25 school year. This represents a significant shift from the prior flexibility schools had in choosing literacy materials and approaches.
The school sits within New York City Geographic District 10, which, like the broader Bronx, is experiencing substantial new housing development and population growth. The Bronx added a notable share of the city's new residential units in recent years, with major affordable housing projects moving forward along transit corridors and waterfront areas. At the same time, District 10 itself has seen enrollment decline over the past several years and currently carries excess elementary school seat capacity. Citywide policy changes have also reshaped how families apply to middle and high schools, removing district boundaries for middle school choice and allowing unlimited high school applications instead of capped lists.
Housing values in the ZIP code are modest and relatively stable; rents have risen but home prices remain below state and national benchmarks. The neighborhood is walkable and served by multiple subway lines and bus routes, with the Fordham Plaza transit hub and Bronx Library Center a reasonable distance away. The Bronx's physical character around this school mixes dense apartment corridors with smaller commercial strips, a built environment typical of inner-city neighborhoods in the borough.
Parents considering PS 246 should weigh the school's proficiency results against its location and the community context. The consistent decline in proficiency rates from third through fifth grade is a soft spot a parent may want to explore further with the school directly, asking how reading and math instruction are sequenced and supported across grade levels and what additional resources or interventions are available for students who are struggling. The school's small to mid-sized enrollment may offer some advantage in individual attention, though this alone does not account for the testing patterns. The school serves a high-poverty student population in a borough that is actively growing and changing, and families will want to understand what instructional strategies and support systems the school has in place given the achievement profile.
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