Ps 124 Osmond a Church, South Ozone Park NY

Original Research by School Decision on Ps 124 Osmond a Church

PS 124 Osmond A Church is a public elementary and middle school in South Ozone Park, Queens, serving kindergarten through eighth grade. The school enrollment sits at just over a thousand students, distributed across the grade span with upper grades (sixth through eighth) drawing a notably larger share of the cohort. Most of the student body—about four in five—qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, and the enrollment is racially and ethnically diverse, with substantial Asian, Indo-Caribbean, Latino, Black, and Native American representation.

The neighborhood is a dense, walkable residential area of single-family homes, small apartment buildings, and mixed-use commercial strips along Rockaway and Lefferts Boulevards. Home values have been rising in recent years, and the area sits just north of JFK Airport, which shapes both employment opportunity and daily soundscape. The neighborhood is defined by its diversity: Caribbean bakeries, Indian groceries, halal restaurants, and small family-owned businesses line the main thoroughfares, while tree-lined residential streets anchor a stable homeownership base. Transit to the area runs on the A train at two nearby stations and multiple bus lines.

Academic performance across the school shows mixed strength by grade level. In third grade, math proficiency sits above the midpoint, but fourth grade marks a sharp decline. Performance stabilizes somewhat in fifth and seventh grades, then falls again in sixth and eighth. The pattern in English language arts is similar: third and eighth grades show stronger results, while fourth through sixth grades cluster below the midpoint. Science testing, available only for fifth and eighth grades, shows lower proficiency in both years. Overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades places the school below the midpoint when compared to other schools in Queens County. Participation rates are high and consistent across most grades and subjects, though eighth-grade math and science participation dip noticeably, which a parent may want to look into with the school.

One notable strength is the high graduation rate from the school system this student body will feed into, and New York State offers robust course access at the secondary level. However, the school does not serve high school, so there is no graduation rate to report here. The school's position in the neighborhood and its strong attendance culture, reflected in high test participation, suggest that engagement with the instructional program runs deep.

At the district level, PS 124 sits within New York City Geographic District 27, which in recent years has adopted the citywide NYC Reads literacy mandate requiring all elementary schools to use a phonics-based, science-of-reading curriculum. This represents a substantial shift from the prior practice in which individual principals selected their own reading materials. For grades six through eight, the district has adopted pre-approved math curricula under the NYC Solves initiative, moving instruction toward conceptual understanding. The district as a whole faces enrollment decline and has excess middle school capacity, meaning that school configurations and co-locations may shift over time as the district manages utilization.

South Ozone Park itself is experiencing moderate residential development, with rising home values and new construction. The area's economy centers on JFK Airport and the cluster of aviation and hospitality firms around it, including the expanding Resorts World Casino nearby. The school sits within a tightly knit community with high homeownership and strong cultural identity.

For families considering PS 124, the picture is of a stable, community-embedded school serving a diverse, working- and middle-class neighborhood where most families qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. Instructional performance in the tested subjects and grades is below the midpoint regionally, with notable weakness in upper grades and science. The high test participation rates and phonics-focused reading instruction reflect a district commitment to systematic literacy. Families drawn to the school's neighborhood character and diversity, and who are comfortable with the school's current academic profile, would find a school with deep roots and strong community connection; those seeking stronger test results may want to investigate further or explore other options in the district.

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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
Science	31	81.0%
Math	29	83.0%

Math

Grade 369%

School 69% · District 63% · ▲ 6 pts above district

▲ 11 pts above state median · even with county median

Grade 443%

School 43% · District 60% · ▼ 16 pts below district

▼ 15 pts below state median · ▼ 24 pts below county median

Grade 560%

School 60% · District 54% · ▲ 6 pts above district

▲ 8 pts above state median · ▼ 1 pts below county median

Grade 645%

School 45% · District 46% · ▼ 2 pts below district

even with state median · ▼ 5 pts below county median

Grade 754%

School 54% · District 57% · ▼ 4 pts below district

▲ 1 pts above state median · ▼ 11 pts below county median

Grade 830%

School 30% · District 42% · ▼ 12 pts below district

▼ 7 pts below state median · ▲ 2 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 359%

School 59% · District 56% · ▲ 2 pts above district

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

Grade 443%

School 43% · District 55% · ▼ 11 pts below district

▼ 9 pts below state median · ▼ 18 pts below county median

Grade 557%

School 57% · District 56% · ▲ 1 pts above district

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

Grade 647%

School 47% · District 49% · ▼ 2 pts below district

▲ 1 pts above state median · ▼ 9 pts below county median

Grade 755%

School 55% · District 52% · ▲ 3 pts above district

▲ 8 pts above state median · ▼ 2 pts below county median

Grade 862%

School 62% · District 53% · ▲ 9 pts above district

▲ 14 pts above state median · ▲ 4 pts above county median

Science

Grade 542%

School 42% · District 39% · ▲ 3 pts above district

even with state median · ▼ 2 pts below county median

Grade 834%

School 34% · District 30% · ▲ 4 pts above district

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

Social studies

Grade 591%

School 91% · district not reported

even with state median · ▲ 2 pts above county median

Grade 882%

School 82% · district not reported

▲ 3 pts above state median · ▲ 27 pts above county median

This schoolNEW YORK CITY GEOGRAPHIC DISTRICT #27, 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-income60%Higher-income53%7 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income43%Higher-income44%1 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income53%Higher-income77%24 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income46%Higher-income52%7 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income56%Higher-income48%8 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income61%Higher-income73%12 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income67%Higher-income82%15 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income41%Higher-income55%15 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income58%Higher-income67%9 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income44%Higher-income48%4 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income53%Higher-income57%4 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income30%Higher-income32%2 pp gap