PS 43

PS 43 is a reasonably sized elementary campus in FAR ROCKAWAY, New York, operated by NEW YORK CITY GEOGRAPHIC DISTRICT #27. The school serves 574 students in grades pre-K through 8. Enrollment runs roughly 30% above the state mean of about 443.

Across the 63 schools in NEW YORK CITY GEOGRAPHIC DISTRICT #27 (39,209 students total), PS 43 accounts for its share of the district's footprint.

In terms of who attends, PS 43 logs that the largest single group is Black at 53%, but no single group is in the majority. Other groups include 41% Hispanic. By comparison, Queens County as a whole is about 17% Black, so the school skews noticeably more Black than its surroundings.

Looking at the economic backdrop, PS 43 lists 44 full-time-equivalent teachers, putting the student-to-teacher ratio at about 13.0:1. That tracks the state average closely. About 93% of enrolled students meet the income threshold for free or reduced-price lunch, a number frequently used as a low-income enrollment indicator. Set against Queens County (around 77%), the school's rate is meaningfully above typical.

Adjusting for the school's free-and-reduced-lunch share, PS 43 tracks the demographic baseline. The model predicts 40.8% given the school's FRL share; actual proficiency is 26.2%.

In the area at large, ACS estimates for Queens County put 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. In all, Queens County runs 392 public schools (combined enrollment of about 268,205 students), of which PS 43 is one.

Nearest neighbor: LIGHTHOUSE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, around 0.3 miles off. Counting just inside five miles, 8 other public schools cluster around PS 43. Ranking that nearby cluster on reported proficiency puts PS 43 at 8th of 9; the average score across the group is 49.3%.

PS 43 operates from an urban location.

Trend over the last 7 years. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at PS 43 has declined 36%, going from 894 students in 2018 to 574 in 2025. The Hispanic share of enrollment rose from 33% to 41% over that span. Class-load math has fell: from 14.4:1 in 2018 to 13.0:1 in 2025.

On this page, posts here usually surface around fundraisers, lost-and-found posts, and report-card season. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.