Enrollment
334
Elementary
DISTRICT 555 · STATE 443
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·NEW YORK CITY GEOGRAPHIC DISTRICT #11·NCES 360008800158
PS 178 DR SELMAN WAKSMAN
850 BAYCHESTER AVE, BRONX, NY 10475 · (718) 904-5570 · Bronx County
GRADES PK–05ELEMENTARY11-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL334 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
12.0:1
28 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 12.4:1 · STATE 12.8:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
76%
253 students
DISTRICT 87% · STATE 58%
Community
0
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other elementary schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade
Student demographics
Student head counts by race/ethnicity from federal NCES enrollment data. Very small groups may be suppressed in the source, so categories do not always sum exactly to total enrollment.
Gender split
Test scores
NYS Assessments 2024-25 . % Proficient (Level 3 + Level 4)English Language Arts
56.0%
NY avg 58.3% . +23.0pp since 2023
Math
63.0%
NY avg 57.4% . +19.0pp since 2023
What this means: On the NYS Assessments, New York's statewide test, about 56 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 63 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all New York schools, those numbers are about 58 and 57. Reading and writing scores are up about 23 points since 2023, while math scores are up about 19 points.
Source: NYS Assessments. All students, all grades. See all years and grades →
BeatsExpectations
Demographically-adjusted score · methodologyTier
AS EXPECTED
Performing as predicted given the school's student profile
Actual proficiency
46.3%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
47.1%
based on NY schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-0.9pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 46% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 47% typical for New York schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations measures results against demographically similar schools rather than by raw scores, and this school falls within the typical range, neither among New York's top nor bottom 10%.
BeatsExpectations runs a per-state regression of proficiency on free/reduced-lunch share, then scores each school by residual. How this is calculated →
7-year change
SY 2017-18 vs SY 2024-25Enrollment
334
-103 (-24%) vs 2017
Student : Teacher
12.0:1
was 12.5:1
% White
4%
was 4%
% Hispanic
31%
was 32%
% Black
58%
was 59%
% Asian
1%
was 2%
Source: NCES Common Core of Data
About PS 178 DR SELMAN WAKSMAN
PS 178 DR SELMAN WAKSMAN is an elementary campus of tight-knit scale in BRONX, New York, part of NEW YORK CITY GEOGRAPHIC DISTRICT #11, caters to 334 students in grades pre-K through 5. That puts it 25% below the typical public school in New York, which averages around 443 students.
Across the 62 schools in NEW YORK CITY GEOGRAPHIC DISTRICT #11 (30,138 students total), PS 178 DR SELMAN WAKSMAN accounts for its share of the district's footprint.
On demographics, PS 178 DR SELMAN WAKSMAN reports that Black students make up the majority at 58%. Other groups include 31% Hispanic, 4% Pacific Islander, 4% White. That is considerably more Black than the county at large, where the share is closer to 33%.
Looking at school resources, The school lists 28 full-time-equivalent teachers, for a student-teacher ratio near 12.0:1. That figure is tighter than the state norm's 12.8:1 average. Roughly 76% of students at PS 178 DR SELMAN WAKSMAN qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which schools and policymakers use as a rough income-mix signal. By comparison, Bronx County runs at roughly 90%, so the school's eligibility rate is lower than the surrounding baseline.
After controlling for student poverty, PS 178 DR SELMAN WAKSMAN performs roughly as the BeatsExpectations model predicts for a school with this FRL share. The predicted value is around 47.1%, the actual is 46.3%, a residual of -0.9 points.
Across the wider county, census data for Bronx County shows the typical household earns roughly $48,676 per year, 22% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and the poverty rate sits near 23%. Across Bronx County's 472 public schools (combined enrollment of about 202,028 students), PS 178 DR SELMAN WAKSMAN is one campus in the mix.
The closest other public school is MS 596, roughly 0.0 miles away. Within five miles, there are 8 other public schools. On composite proficiency, PS 178 DR SELMAN WAKSMAN comes 6th of 7 in the immediate cluster, beneath the nearby-schools average of 55.2%.
The school occupies a metropolitan site.
Five-year trend. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at PS 178 DR SELMAN WAKSMAN has ticked down 24%, going from 437 students in 2018 to 334 in 2025.
On this page, the page collects discussion, questions, and updates around science fair prep, picture-day reminders, and bus-route questions. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.
Bronx County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
1,404,779
Census ACS
Median income
$48,676
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
22%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
23%
Below federal line
Schools in county
472
202,028 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in NEW YORK CITY GEOGRAPHIC DISTRICT #11
- HARRY S TRUMAN HIGH SCHOOLHigh · 1,650 students
- PS 83 DONALD HERTZElementary · 1,451 students
- PS 89Elementary · 1,169 students
- PS/MS 194Elementary · 1,169 students
- PS 96 RICHARD RODGERSElementary · 880 students
- PS 106 PARKCHESTERElementary · 822 students
Other schools in BRONX
- BRONX HIGH SCHOOL OF SCIENCE (THE)High · 2,953 students
- KIPP BRONX CHARTER SCHOOL IIICombined · 2,390 students
- HARRY S TRUMAN HIGH SCHOOLHigh · 1,650 students
- ATMOSPHERE ACADEMY PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOLHigh · 1,481 students
- PS 83 DONALD HERTZElementary · 1,451 students
- RIVERDALE/KINGSBRIDGE ACADEMY (MS/HS 141)High · 1,383 students
Nearby schools
- MS 5960.0 mi · 403
- PS 1760.0 mi · 602
- IS 181 PABLO CASALS0.1 mi · 490
- BRONX HEALTH SCIENCES HIGH SCHOOL0.1 mi · 337
- HARRY S TRUMAN HIGH SCHOOL0.1 mi · 1,650
- PS 153 HELEN KELLER0.1 mi · 440
Frequently asked questions
About PS 178 DR SELMAN WAKSMANHow large is PS 178 DR SELMAN WAKSMAN?
PS 178 DR SELMAN WAKSMAN enrolls approximately 334 students in grades PK-05.
Is PS 178 DR SELMAN WAKSMAN an elementary, middle, or high school?
PS 178 DR SELMAN WAKSMAN is an elementary school covering grades PK-05.
How many teachers does PS 178 DR SELMAN WAKSMAN have?
PS 178 DR SELMAN WAKSMAN employs 28 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 12.0:1.
What is the student diversity at PS 178 DR SELMAN WAKSMAN?
Student demographics at PS 178 DR SELMAN WAKSMAN are roughly 4% White, 31% Hispanic, 58% Black, 1% Asian, 1% Two or more.
Is PS 178 DR SELMAN WAKSMAN public or private?
PS 178 DR SELMAN WAKSMAN is a public K-12 school, overseen by NEW YORK CITY GEOGRAPHIC DISTRICT #11.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.