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What's the one class at PS 196 GRAND CENTRAL PARKWAY every student should take?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
749
Elementary
DISTRICT 593 · STATE 443
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·NEW YORK CITY GEOGRAPHIC DISTRICT #28·NCES 360010002667
PS 196 GRAND CENTRAL PARKWAY
71-25 113TH ST, FOREST HILLS, NY 11375 · (718) 263-9770 · Queens County
GRADES PK–05ELEMENTARY11-CITYREGULAR SCHOOL749 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
15.3:1
49 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 13.9:1 · STATE 12.8:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
22%
167 students
DISTRICT 75% · STATE 58%
Community
1
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
97.0%
NY avg 58.3% . +7.0pp since 2023
Math
98.0%
NY avg 57.4% . +1.0pp since 2023
What this means: On the NYS Assessments, New York's statewide test, about 97 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 98 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 7 points since 2023, while math scores are up about 1 points.
Source: NYS Assessments. All students, all grades. See all years and grades →
BeatsExpectations
Demographically-adjusted score · methodologyTier
OUTPERFORMING
Top 10% of NY schools after controlling for student poverty
Actual proficiency
94.9%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
66.8%
based on NY schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+28.1pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 95% of students here test proficient in math and reading, well above the roughly 67% typical for New York schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations ranks schools against others at the same poverty level, not by raw scores, so a school can post high scores and still fall short of its prediction, or post lower scores and still beat it. This school clears its prediction by about 28 points, placing it in New York's top 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
749
-247 (-25%) vs 2017
Student : Teacher
15.3:1
was 17.2:1
% White
29%
was 42%
% Hispanic
16%
was 12%
% Black
1%
was 2%
% Asian
43%
was 36%
Source: NCES Common Core of Data
About PS 196 GRAND CENTRAL PARKWAY
PS 196 GRAND CENTRAL PARKWAY operates as a roomy primary school in FOREST HILLS, New York, one of the schools within NEW YORK CITY GEOGRAPHIC DISTRICT #28. Current enrollment sits at 749 students spanning grades pre-K through 5. That puts it 69% larger than the typical public school in New York, which averages around 443 students.
NEW YORK CITY GEOGRAPHIC DISTRICT #28 comprises 50 schools with combined enrollment of 36,340 students; PS 196 GRAND CENTRAL PARKWAY is among them.
Looking at the student body, PS 196 GRAND CENTRAL PARKWAY shows that the largest single group is Asian at 43%, but no single group is in the majority. The remainder is composed of 29% White, 16% Hispanic, 9% multiracial. By comparison, Queens County as a whole is about 26% Asian, so the school skews meaningfully more Asian than its surroundings.
Looking at the economic backdrop, PS 196 GRAND CENTRAL PARKWAY records 49 full-time-equivalent teachers, putting the student-to-teacher ratio at about 15.3:1. The state averages around 12.8:1, so this campus is higher than the state norm typical. An estimated 22% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, often used as a Title I proxy. Set against Queens County (around 77%), the school's rate is noticeably below typical.
After controlling for student poverty, PS 196 GRAND CENTRAL PARKWAY sits in the top 10% of New York schools after the BeatsExpectations adjustment. Predicted proficiency for the school's FRL share is roughly 66.8%; actual is 94.9%, +28.1 points clear of the demographic baseline.
Around the school, census data for Queens County shows the typical household earns roughly $86,136 per year, 36% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and roughly 10% of residents live below the federal poverty line. PS 196 GRAND CENTRAL PARKWAY is one of 392 public schools in Queens County (combined enrollment of about 268,205 students).
The closest other public school is ACADEMY FOR EXCELLENCE THROUGH THE ARTS (THE), roughly 0.4 miles away. 8 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius. Ranking that nearby cluster on reported proficiency puts PS 196 GRAND CENTRAL PARKWAY at 1st of 9; the average score across the group is 71.2%.
PS 196 GRAND CENTRAL PARKWAY operates from a city-core location.
Trend over the last 7 years. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at PS 196 GRAND CENTRAL PARKWAY has ticked down 25%, going from 996 students in 2018 to 749 in 2025. White enrollment moved from 42% to 29% across the same window. The student-to-teacher ratio narrowed from 17.2:1 in 2018 to 15.3:1 today.
In the discussion threads here, the feed for PS 196 GRAND CENTRAL PARKWAY typically covers fundraisers, lost-and-found posts, and report-card season. Posting is open to anyone connected to the school.
Queens County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
2,323,052
Census ACS
Median income
$86,136
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
36%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
10%
Below federal line
Schools in county
392
268,205 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in NEW YORK CITY GEOGRAPHIC DISTRICT #28
- FOREST HILLS HIGH SCHOOLHigh · 3,394 students
- HILLCREST HIGH SCHOOLHigh · 2,298 students
- THOMAS A EDISON CAREER AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION HIGH SCHOOLHigh · 2,146 students
- JHS 157 STEPHEN A HALSEYMiddle · 1,611 students
- JHS 217 ROBERT A VAN WYCKMiddle · 1,265 students
- QUEENS METROPOLITAN HIGH SCHOOLHigh · 1,068 students
Other schools in FOREST HILLS
- FOREST HILLS HIGH SCHOOLHigh · 3,394 students
- QUEENS METROPOLITAN HIGH SCHOOLHigh · 1,068 students
- JHS 190 RUSSELL SAGEMiddle · 935 students
- METROPOLITAN EXPEDITIONARY LEARNING SCHOOLHigh · 837 students
- PS 144 COL JEROMUS REMSENElementary · 766 students
- PS 220 EDWARD MANDELElementary · 616 students
Nearby schools
- ACADEMY FOR EXCELLENCE THROUGH THE ARTS (THE)0.4 mi · 573
- PS 101 SCHOOL IN THE GARDENS0.6 mi · 605
- FOREST HILLS HIGH SCHOOL0.6 mi · 3,394
- JHS 190 RUSSELL SAGE0.7 mi · 935
- PS 164 QUEENS VALLEY0.8 mi · 527
- PS 144 COL JEROMUS REMSEN0.9 mi · 766
Frequently asked questions
About PS 196 GRAND CENTRAL PARKWAYHow large is PS 196 GRAND CENTRAL PARKWAY?
PS 196 GRAND CENTRAL PARKWAY enrolls approximately 749 students in grades PK-05.
What age range does PS 196 GRAND CENTRAL PARKWAY serve?
PS 196 GRAND CENTRAL PARKWAY serves students from grade PK through grade 05.
How many teachers does PS 196 GRAND CENTRAL PARKWAY have?
PS 196 GRAND CENTRAL PARKWAY employs 49 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 15.3:1.
What is the student diversity at PS 196 GRAND CENTRAL PARKWAY?
Student demographics at PS 196 GRAND CENTRAL PARKWAY are roughly 29% White, 16% Hispanic, 1% Black, 43% Asian, 9% Two or more.
Is PS 196 GRAND CENTRAL PARKWAY public or private?
PS 196 GRAND CENTRAL PARKWAY is a public K-12 school, overseen by NEW YORK CITY GEOGRAPHIC DISTRICT #28.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.