Goldie Maple Academy, Arverne NY

Original Research by School Decision on Goldie Maple Academy

Goldie Maple Academy is a public elementary and middle school on the Rockaway Peninsula in Queens, serving pre-kindergarten through eighth grade. The school sits in Arverne, a beachfront neighborhood undergoing substantial residential redevelopment after decades of vacancy, with new housing projects, retail, and community amenities anchoring the area alongside the Atlantic boardwalk and elevated subway transit.

The school enrolls a small student body across its grade band. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, and the enrollment is predominantly Black, with a secondary Hispanic population and very few white or Asian students. Specific counts for students with disabilities and English learners were not available.

State math and English language arts assessments show below-average proficiency across all tested grades. In mathematics, proficiency rates range from low single digits in grades four and five to the high single digits in grade seven and low double digits in grades three, six, and eight. English proficiency is somewhat higher, with rates in the low to mid-20s across grades three, four, and seven, and higher results in grades five, six, and eight, reaching the low 40s. Science proficiency, tested in grades five and eight, sits in the low to mid-40s in eighth grade but remains in the low to mid-teens in fifth grade. Across the school, proficiency scores place it in the bottom quartile among Queens County districts on an overall proficiency index. A parent may want to look into further with the school what instructional supports and interventions are in place for students working below grade level, and how the school approaches remediation and acceleration.

The school is part of New York City Geographic District 27, which has experienced a decline in overall enrollment and carries excess classroom capacity across its K-8 buildings. The district has implemented two citywide curriculum mandates over recent years. All elementary schools, including Goldie Maple, now use a single phonics-based "science of reading" curriculum selected by the city rather than by individual principals, a significant shift from prior practice. Middle schools, which serve Goldie Maple's upper grades, choose from a pre-approved list of mathematics curricula emphasizing conceptual understanding. These standardized approaches replace the flexibility schools once had to design their own reading and math instruction.

The location itself is characteristic of an active real estate market. Housing values in the 11692 zip code are above the state benchmark and have appreciated modestly year over year. Rental costs are higher than the state benchmark as well. The neighborhood's two major residential redevelopments, Arverne by the Sea and the newly groundbroken Arverne East project, are reshaping the area with mixed-income housing and a focus on walkability and sustainability.

For families considering the school, the central question is whether the instructional response to low proficiency is one that matches their child's needs. The standardized curricula adopted by the district offer consistency and are grounded in research, but proficiency results suggest the school faces real challenges in reading, mathematics, and science. The school's small size and location in a developing neighborhood are neutral characteristics depending on family preference; they neither add nor subtract from academic outcome. A parent exploring this school would want to understand the school's recent trends, the support structure for students performing below grade level, and how the school differentiates instruction in mixed-ability classrooms.

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Academic performance

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

New York Regents Exams

1 course 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
Social Studies	20	30.0%

Math

Grade 326%

School 26% · District 63% · ▼ 38 pts below district

▼ 33 pts below state median · ▼ 44 pts below county median

Grade 420%

School 20% · District 60% · ▼ 39 pts below district

▼ 38 pts below state median · ▼ 48 pts below county median

Grade 513%

School 13% · District 54% · ▼ 41 pts below district

▼ 39 pts below state median · ▼ 48 pts below county median

Grade 623%

School 23% · District 46% · ▼ 24 pts below district

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

Grade 719%

School 19% · District 57% · ▼ 39 pts below district

▼ 34 pts below state median · ▼ 45 pts below county median

Grade 831%

School 31% · District 42% · ▼ 10 pts below district

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

English language arts

Grade 323%

School 23% · District 56% · ▼ 33 pts below district

▼ 29 pts below state median · ▼ 39 pts below county median

Grade 426%

School 26% · District 55% · ▼ 29 pts below district

▼ 27 pts below state median · ▼ 35 pts below county median

Grade 533%

School 33% · District 56% · ▼ 23 pts below district

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

Grade 646%

School 46% · District 49% · ▼ 4 pts below district

even with state median · ▼ 10 pts below county median

Grade 716%

School 16% · District 52% · ▼ 36 pts below district

▼ 32 pts below state median · ▼ 41 pts below county median

Grade 841%

School 41% · District 53% · ▼ 12 pts below district

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

Science

Grade 517%

School 17% · District 39% · ▼ 21 pts below district

▼ 24 pts below state median · ▼ 26 pts below county median

Grade 840%

School 40% · District 30% · ▲ 10 pts above district

▲ 7 pts above state median · ▲ 16 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 7Lower-income15%Higher-income20%5 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 7Lower-income19%Higher-income20%2 pp gap