PS 15 ROBERTO CLEMENTE vs PS 92 MARY MCLEOD BETHUNE

PS 15 Roberto Clemente and PS 92 Mary McLeod Bethune sit 6.7 miles apart in New York City, yet they land at very different positions in the state rankings despite near-identical overall scores. PS 92 Mary McLeod Bethune holds the stronger overall rating at 9.4/10 versus PS 15 Roberto Clemente's 9.2/10 — a 0.2-point gap that belies a dramatic difference in state rank: PS 92 ranks #5 of 4,739 schools in New York while PS 15 ranks #20 of 4,739. Both are elite performers, but PS 92's placement in the top five of the entire state sets it apart.

The academic and growth scores tell a more nuanced story. PS 15 Roberto Clemente edges out PS 92 Mary McLeod Bethune on the academic dimension, scoring 9.1/10 versus 8.8/10 — a 0.3-point lead that suggests slightly stronger absolute test performance. PS 92 Mary McLeod Bethune, however, dominates on growth, posting a perfect 10.0/10 growth score against PS 15's already-strong 9.5/10. That half-point growth advantage is meaningful: it means students at PS 92 are outpacing their predicted trajectories at the highest measurable rate, regardless of where they started.

The two schools differ sharply on both student-teacher ratio and economic need. PS 15 Roberto Clemente offers one of the most intimate classroom settings in the city at 7.9 students per teacher, compared to PS 92 Mary McLeod Bethune's 11.3:1 ratio — a difference of 3.4 students per teacher that translates directly into adult attention per child. On free and reduced-price lunch eligibility, PS 92 serves a higher-need population at 98% versus PS 15's 86%. Enrollment is similar — 190 at PS 15 and 170 at PS 92 — keeping both schools small by New York City standards.

Both PS 15 Roberto Clemente and PS 92 Mary McLeod Bethune serve prekindergarten through grade 5, so neither has a grade-level advantage for elementary families. The structural difference is the resource-per-student equation: PS 15's dramatically lower student-teacher ratio offsets PS 92's superior growth ranking, making the choice turn on whether a family prioritizes individualized attention or demonstrated student momentum.