PS 110 FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE vs PS 92 MARY MCLEOD BETHUNE

PS 92 Mary McLeod Bethune holds a decisive edge in overall standing, ranking #5 of 4,739 schools in New York against PS 110 Florence Nightingale's #21 — a 16-position gap near the very top of the state. Both schools sit in elite territory statewide, but PS 92 Mary McLeod Bethune's position puts it among the handful of public elementaries in New York that outperform nearly every school in the state.

The academic and growth scores tell two distinct stories. PS 110 Florence Nightingale leads on academic proficiency with a 9.3/10 versus PS 92 Mary McLeod Bethune's 8.8/10 — a 0.5-point advantage in raw achievement. Growth runs the opposite direction: PS 92 Mary McLeod Bethune posts a perfect 10.0/10 growth score against PS 110 Florence Nightingale's 9.3/10, meaning students at PS 92 are gaining ground at an exceptional rate relative to their starting points. A school that combines an 8.8 academic score with a 10.0 growth score is consistently accelerating students' trajectories, which matters especially for families entering with below-grade-level readers or math students.

The demographic and structural differences between these two schools are substantial. PS 110 Florence Nightingale enrolls 264 students at a 9.1:1 student-teacher ratio and serves 68% of students on free or reduced lunch. PS 92 Mary McLeod Bethune is smaller at 170 students, carries a 98% free and reduced lunch rate — 30 percentage points higher — and operates at an 11.3:1 student-teacher ratio. PS 92's near-universal FRL rate signals it serves a higher-need community, making its #5 state ranking and perfect growth score a particularly strong indicator of instructional effectiveness under demanding conditions.

Both schools serve grades PK through 05 and sit 7.1 miles apart within New York City. The grade span is identical, so the decision turns entirely on program fit rather than level coverage. PS 110 Florence Nightingale's lower ratio of 9.1:1 means more adult attention per child on average, while PS 92 Mary McLeod Bethune's extraordinary growth score suggests its teachers are maximizing outcomes despite the larger class load.