The top reported proficiency rate is 61% in Social studies. The lowest is 23% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Ps 134 George F Bristow
PS 134 George F Bristow serves prekindergarten through fifth grade in the Bronx, a neighborhood school in a densely populated urban setting. The school is a regular public school operated by New York City Geographic District 12, located on Bristow Street in the 10459 zip code. The student body is predominantly Hispanic and Black, with nearly all students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting high economic need in the surrounding neighborhood.
The Bronx itself is a borough of sharp contrasts and varied neighborhoods. Physically, it ranges from dense apartment districts and tight commercial corridors to quieter residential pockets with single-family homes and wooded areas. The neighborhood landscape shifts significantly block to block. Commercial life concentrates around multiple transit hubs and corridors like White Plains Road, which line bakeries, markets, barbershops, and restaurants. The borough is well-served by subway, bus, and Metro-North, with major civic anchors including Van Cortlandt Park, the Bronx Zoo, and the New York Botanical Garden. Montefiore Medical Center is the largest employer in the Bronx. The borough is in a strong growth phase for affordable housing, with major development projects underway that will add substantial new residential capacity.
The school's test results show persistent academic challenges. In math, proficiency rates span from low teens in fifth grade to low thirties in third and fourth grades. In English language arts, results cluster in the low-to-mid twenties and thirties. Science proficiency in fifth grade sits in the low twenties. These rates place the school in the bottom quartile for overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades relative to other district schools in Bronx County. Participation in state assessments is strong, with participation rates above ninety percent across most grades, so these results reflect actual achievement rather than testing barriers.
The school's enrollment is small and stable, serving approximately four hundred students across all seven grade levels, from pre-K through fifth grade. Approximately all students qualify for free or reduced-price meals, indicating concentrated economic disadvantage. The racial and ethnic composition is approximately half Hispanic and two-fifths Black, with small numbers of white and Asian students and two or more races.
District 12 has undergone two significant curriculum changes that directly affect how PS 134 teaches. Beginning in 2023, elementary schools were required to adopt Into Reading, a phonics-based structured literacy program from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, replacing the prior system where schools chose their own reading approach. Beginning in fall 2026, all elementary schools in District 12 will shift to Illustrative Mathematics for math instruction, marking the first time elementary math teachers have been required to change their approach under the city's mandate. These are lasting, district-wide changes to pedagogy that a family enrolling in the school would experience.
Housing in the 10459 zip code sits slightly above New York State's median home value, with rental costs reflecting tight urban apartment markets typical of the Bronx. The area has seen recent investment and development, particularly in affordable housing projects, as part of the borough's broader growth trajectory.
A parent considering this school would be looking at a small, traditional neighborhood elementary serving a community of high economic need, with test results substantially below proficiency targets and below the performance level of similar schools in the county. The school is undergoing district-level curriculum changes in reading and math that represent shifts in pedagogical approach. The Bronx location offers walkability, transit access, institutional anchors, and a neighborhood texture that mixes dense urban fabric with green space. This is a school that would be appropriate for a family seeking neighborhood-based, small-school education in an affordable area and whose children may benefit from structured literacy and problem-based math approaches now required district-wide, though families should understand that achievement levels are low and may want to discuss with the school what support and intervention systems are in place for students below proficiency.
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