Park Avenue School, North Merrick NY

Original Research by School Decision on Park Avenue School

Park Avenue School is a kindergarten-through-sixth-grade elementary school in North Merrick serving a mid-sized enrollment of students across a balanced grade distribution. The school sits within the North Bellmore Union Free School District on Long Island, in a fully built-out suburban residential community about a half-hour drive from New York City.

The school's academic profile shows an uneven pattern across grade levels and subjects. In mathematics, third graders reached proficiency at about half; fourth graders performed much lower; but fifth and sixth graders showed strong results. In English language arts, third and fourth graders hovered near or below half proficiency, while fifth and sixth graders again showed substantially stronger attainment. Science testing in grade five came in at just under two-thirds proficiency. Overall, measured against the districts in Nassau County, Park Avenue's mean proficiency index places it above the midpoint. The pattern suggests that upper elementary students demonstrate readier command of tested material than younger ones, a trajectory a parent may want to explore with the school to understand whether it reflects classroom instruction, student maturation, or other factors.

Participation rates in state testing vary considerably by grade, ranging from about half to near ninety percent. Lower participation rates, particularly in the upper grades, could reflect student absences on testing days or other scheduling factors; again, the school could clarify this.

The student body is predominantly white, with smaller shares of Hispanic, Asian, and Black students, and about one in six students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. The school serves a community with deeply rooted residents; turnover is notably low compared to national norms, and the housing market is characterized by high demand and tight inventory. Median home values are substantial, and most families have the means to stay.

North Merrick itself is a mature, nearly fully built-out hamlet with schools, the public library, and civic life organized around dispersed campuses rather than a walkable downtown. Commuting to New York City is routine. The district's aging elementary buildings, some nearly eighty years old, have been undergoing a multi-year modernization program. After voters rejected a bond in 2022, the district has funded upgrades through a capital reserve, installing new air conditioning, bathrooms, ceilings, and fixtures across its schools, including Park Avenue. This ongoing work has material bearing on the physical condition of the building families' children enter each day.

Park Avenue does not offer programs data in the available information, and teacher staffing numbers were not reported. A parent considering this school would benefit from asking directly about curriculum choices, support services for students working below grade level, and the school's plan for closing the gap between younger and older students' performance.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 351%

School 51% · District 61% · ▼ 9 pts below district

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

Grade 418%

School 18% · District 64% · ▼ 46 pts below district

▼ 40 pts below state median · ▼ 60 pts below county median

Grade 574%

School 74% · District 75% · ▼ 1 pts below district

▲ 23 pts above state median · ▲ 2 pts above county median

Grade 688%

School 88% · District 76% · ▲ 12 pts above district

▲ 43 pts above state median · ▲ 17 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 350%

School 50% · District 59% · ▼ 9 pts below district

▼ 2 pts below state median · ▼ 17 pts below county median

Grade 439%

School 39% · District 57% · ▼ 18 pts below district

▼ 13 pts below state median · ▼ 28 pts below county median

Grade 582%

School 82% · District 77% · ▲ 5 pts above district

▲ 28 pts above state median · ▲ 12 pts above county median

Grade 683%

School 83% · District 75% · ▲ 8 pts above district

▲ 37 pts above state median · ▲ 19 pts above county median

Science

Grade 559%

School 59% · District 61% · ▼ 1 pts below district

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

Social studies

Grade 5100%

School 100% · District 97% · ▲ 3 pts above district

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

This schoolNORTH BELLMORE UNION FREE SCHOOL DISTRICT, 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 4Lower-income50%Higher-income35%15 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income83%Higher-income82%1 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 4Lower-income0%Higher-income25%25 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income67%Higher-income94%28 pp gap