PS 197 OCEAN SCHOOL (THE)

PS 197 OCEAN SCHOOL (THE), a middle-of-the-pack elementary school in FAR ROCKAWAY, New York, operated by NEW YORK CITY GEOGRAPHIC DISTRICT #27, hosts 425 students, covering grades pre-K through 5.

NEW YORK CITY GEOGRAPHIC DISTRICT #27 comprises 63 schools with combined enrollment of 39,209 students; PS 197 OCEAN SCHOOL (THE) is among them.

On demographics, PS 197 OCEAN SCHOOL (THE) shows that the most-represented group is Hispanic (49%), with the rest of the student body spread across multiple groups; the rest comes out to 44% Black, 2% White, 2% Native American. The wider county runs roughly 28% Hispanic, putting the school's mix considerably more Hispanic than the area baseline.

Looking at the economic backdrop, The school employs 30 full-time-equivalent teachers, for a student-teacher ratio near 14.2:1. Statewide, the average ratio sits near 12.8:1, putting PS 197 OCEAN SCHOOL (THE) higher than the state norm the norm. Around 90% of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price meals, often used as a Title I proxy. Set against Queens County (around 77%), the school's rate is north of typical.

With demographic context factored in, PS 197 OCEAN SCHOOL (THE) performs roughly as the BeatsExpectations model predicts for a school with this FRL share. The predicted value is around 41.9%, the actual is 44.0%, a residual of +2.0 points.

In the broader community, ACS estimates for Queens County put the typical household earns roughly $86,136 per year, about 36% of the adult population holds a bachelor's degree or above, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 10%. In all, Queens County runs 392 public schools (combined enrollment of about 268,205 students), of which PS 197 OCEAN SCHOOL (THE) is one.

Nearest neighbor: MS 53 BRIAN PICCOLO, around 0.4 miles off. Within five miles, there are 8 other public schools. Ranking that nearby cluster on reported proficiency puts PS 197 OCEAN SCHOOL (THE) at 5th of 9; the average score across the group is 52.1%.

Geographically, the school is in an urban area.

Five-year trend. PS 197 OCEAN SCHOOL (THE)'s enrollment has shrank 14% since 2018, when it stood at 495 (now 425). Class-load math has grew: from 11.0:1 in 2018 to 14.2:1 in 2025.

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