The top reported proficiency rate is 95% in Social studies. The lowest is 63% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Ps 133
PS 133, formally known as the Bellerose School of Excellence, sits on 86th Avenue in the eastern Queens neighborhood of Bellerose, serving children from pre-kindergarten through fifth grade. It belongs to NYC Geographic District 26, one of the more sought-after elementary school districts in the borough. The school's full name signals an institutional aspiration that its state test results largely bear out.
On the New York State assessments, PS 133 turns in math proficiency rates across tested grades that are genuinely strong, with third graders performing especially well and the rates in fourth and fifth grade remaining solidly above what most Queens County districts produce. ELA scores are somewhat lower than math, as is common, but still place the school comfortably in the top quartile of the comparison set of Queens County districts on an overall proficiency index that blends tested subjects and grades. Science proficiency in fifth grade sits a step below the math and ELA results, which a parent may want to ask the school about directly. The social studies data in the payload is from a much earlier year and cannot be used as a current indicator. Trend data across years was not available in the dataset, so there is no read on whether these results are rising, stable, or declining.
Enrollment is spread fairly evenly across the grade band, giving the school a size that is mid-range for a Queens elementary. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting real economic diversity even in this relatively stable homeownership community. The student body is heavily Asian, with the largest share of any demographic group by a wide margin; Hispanic students form the next largest group, followed by white students and smaller populations across other categories. IEP and English learner rates were not available in the data.
The neighborhood itself is a quiet, early 20th-century garden suburb sitting at Queens' eastern edge, physically pressed against Nassau County along the Jericho Turnpike corridor. Publicly reported sources describe the area as predominantly detached single-family homes, Tudor and Colonial in character, with tree-lined blocks and strong homeownership norms. It draws an older, middle-class population with a deep South Asian, Caribbean, Greek, and Irish presence alongside longstanding European American families. The housing market here is expensive, running well above the New York State median and well above national figures, with year-over-year appreciation that has continued into the current period. There is no rental index data available for the immediate zip code.
The district has gone through two curriculum shifts that affect every PS 133 family directly. Under the citywide NYC Reads mandate, publicly reported as a system-wide change, the school now follows a phonics-based, science-of-reading literacy curriculum rather than the balanced-literacy approach that many District 26 schools previously used. Mandatory daily phonics instruction was introduced across all grades K-2 in particular. Separately, District 26 was among the first districts to participate in the NYC Solves math initiative, which standardizes middle school math on problem-based curricula like Illustrative Mathematics. That change matters more when PS 133 students move on, but parents of current fourth and fifth graders should know the middle school math environment they are headed into has shifted. The gifted-and-talented admission process citywide also changed, moving from a test for four-year-olds to a teacher-recommendation and lottery system with expanded seats and a new third-grade entry point.
The school shares Bellerose Playground with the surrounding block, a jointly operated space that added a reading and garden area recently. The neighborhood is moderately walkable along the commercial spine of Jericho Turnpike, with the LIRR Bellerose station a short distance away. The area is zoned and politically committed to staying low-density, so the surrounding residential fabric is unlikely to change substantially. The main nearby development story is the Belmont Park redevelopment in adjacent Elmont, which delivered a new arena and retail complex, though that is a regional employment and transit shift more than a neighborhood transformation.
Graduation rate is not applicable here; PS 133 ends at fifth grade. The picture that comes through is an elementary school with notably strong math results, solid ELA, a diverse and academically engaged community, and a neighborhood that prizes stability.
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