PS 163 ALFRED E SMITH vs PS 133 FRED R MOORE

PS 133 Fred R Moore ranks #3 of 4,739 schools in New York state, placing it in the top 0.1% statewide. PS 163 Alfred E Smith is no slouch at #116, but that is a gap of 113 positions in the same ranking pool — and PS 133's overall rating of 9.5/10 sits 0.7 points above PS 163's 8.8/10. Both schools serve the same grade band, PK through 5th, and sit 1.9 miles apart in New York City, making the comparison genuinely consequential for families in the area.

Academically, the two schools are nearly identical on paper — PS 163 Alfred E Smith scores 9.3/10 and PS 133 Fred R Moore scores 9.2/10, a difference of just 0.1 points. Growth tells a slightly different story: PS 133 Fred R Moore earns a perfect 10.0/10 growth score, compared to PS 163's already strong 9.7/10. That 0.3-point gap in growth means PS 133 is pushing students further beyond expectations on a year-over-year basis, even within a cohort that begins at a different starting point.

The demographic profiles of the two schools diverge sharply. PS 163 Alfred E Smith enrolls 524 students with a student-teacher ratio of 13.1:1 and 66% of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch. PS 133 Fred R Moore is a much smaller school at 187 students, with a student-teacher ratio of 7.5:1 — nearly half that of PS 163 — and a free and reduced lunch rate of 95%. The ratio difference is substantial: each teacher at PS 133 is responsible for roughly 5.6 fewer students than at PS 163, which directly affects individual attention in the classroom.

Both schools serve PK through grade 5. PS 133 Fred R Moore's combination of a near-perfect growth score and a 7.5:1 student-teacher ratio signals an environment where students who may enter behind grade level are making exceptional academic progress. PS 163 Alfred E Smith, despite its larger enrollment and higher FRL rate than many top schools, still ranks #116 statewide, demonstrating that it consistently outperforms the vast majority of New York elementary schools.