1
Honest take: what's the hardest part about being a student at PS 159?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
504
Elementary
DISTRICT 475 · STATE 443
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·NEW YORK CITY GEOGRAPHIC DISTRICT #26·NCES 360009902571
PS 159
205-01 33RD AVE, BAYSIDE, NY 11361 · (718) 423-8553 · Queens County
GRADES PK–05ELEMENTARY11-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL504 STUDENTS
A
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 91% of New York public elementary schools
- ATest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- ABeats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- ·Three-year trend Not available for this school, so the grade uses the other parts.
Grades compare a school only with schools in the same state, because every state gives its own test. How grades work · Top-graded New York public elementary schools
Student : Teacher
14.0:1
36 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 12.7:1 · STATE 12.8:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
61%
309 students
DISTRICT 58% · STATE 58%
Community
1
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other elementary schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-K | 25 | 5% |
| Kindergarten | 62 | 12% |
| Grade 1 | 60 | 12% |
| Grade 2 | 76 | 15% |
| Grade 3 | 97 | 19% |
| Grade 4 | 91 | 18% |
| Grade 5 | 93 | 18% |
This year's kindergarten class (62) is 33% smaller than its 5th grade class (93).
Student demographics
57%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 63% · STATE 72% · US 70%
Student head counts by race/ethnicity from federal NCES enrollment data. District, state, and US figures are each group's share of all public school students in that area (US excludes territories). Very small groups may be suppressed in the source, so categories do not always sum exactly to total enrollment.
Gender split
Test scores
NYS Assessments 2024-25 . % Proficient (Level 3 + Level 4)English Language Arts
71.0%
NY avg 58.3% . -3.0pp since 2023
Math
77.0%
NY avg 57.4% . -4.0pp since 2023
What this means: On the NYS Assessments, New York's statewide test, about 71 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 77 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all New York schools, those numbers are about 58 and 57. Reading and writing scores are down about 3 points since 2023, while math scores are down about 4 points.
NYS Assessments results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 71.0% | 77.0% |
| 2023-24 | 74.0% | 81.0% |
% Proficient (Level 3 + Level 4), all students and all tested grades.
Source: NYS Assessments. All students, all grades. See all years and grades →
BeatsExpectations
Demographically-adjusted score · methodologyTier
OUTPERFORMING
Top 10% of NY schools after controlling for student poverty
Actual proficiency
73.1%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
52.5%
based on NY schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+20.7pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 73% of students here test proficient in math and reading, well above the roughly 52% typical for New York schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations ranks schools against others at the same poverty level, not by raw scores, so a school can post high scores and still fall short of its prediction, or post lower scores and still beat it. This school clears its prediction by about 21 points, placing it in New York's top 10%.
BeatsExpectations runs a per-state regression of proficiency on free/reduced-lunch share, then scores each school by residual. How this is calculated →
Schools most like PS 159
PS 159's state test result (73.1% proficient) is higher than 4 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| PS 159 this school | 504 | 61.3% | 73.1% |
| PS 184 FLUSHING MANOR WHITESTONE | 462 | 58.9% | 71.1% |
| PS 46 ALLEY POND BAYSIDE | 520 | 54.2% | 71.3% |
| PS 133 THE BELLEROSE SCHOOL OF EXCELLENCE BELLEROSE | 596 | 63.9% | 71.9% |
| PS 42 BENJAMIN ALTMAN NEW YORK | 476 | 66.8% | 74.5% |
| PS 18 WINCHESTER QUEENS VILLAGE | 425 | 61.4% | 68.6% |
Matched among New York elementary schools on enrollment, the share of students from low-income families (eligible for free or reduced-price lunch), and racial and ethnic makeup. Proficient is the average share of students meeting the state standard across all of the school's state tests in 2023-24 and 2024-25, the same combined score our test-score rankings use. Online schools and schools serving specialized populations are not matched.
Where PS 159 ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In New York | In Queens County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 73.1% | #302 of 2,335 | #35 of 220 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 77.0% | #444 of 2,342 ▼ 172 | #63 of 219 ▼ 30 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 71.0% | #478 of 2,343 ▼ 297 | #63 of 220 ▼ 39 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 504 | #803 of 2,585 | #140 of 230 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 14.0:1 | #1,869 of 2,338 | #147 of 218 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 57.4% | #847 of 2,388 | #117 of 225 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 61.3% | #1,136 of 2,534 | #188 of 230 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -25.9% | #406 of 1,757 | #57 of 167 |
Ranked against other public elementary schools. Online schools are left out of every list, and test-score lists leave out schools that serve specialized populations. Each rank links to the full list. Arrows under a test-score rank show places moved since the prior test year, among schools tested both years.
4-year change
SY 2020-21 vs SY 2024-25Enrollment
504
-143 (-22%) vs 2020
-8% since 2010-11, when it was 546
Student : Teacher
14.0:1
was 15.4:1
Source: NCES Common Core of Data
Enrollment and staffing by year
| School year | Students | Teachers (FTE) | Students per teacher | Free and reduced lunch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 504 | 36 | 14.0:1 | 61% (309) |
| 2023-24 | 542 | 39 | 13.9:1 | 56% (306) |
| 2022-23 | 556 | 37 | 15.0:1 | 51% (284) |
| 2020-21 | 647 | 42 | 15.4:1 | 52% (339) |
| 2017-18 | 680 | 46 | 14.8:1 | 51% (348) |
| 2015-16 | 657 | 39 | 16.9:1 | 52% (340) |
| 2010-11 | 546 | 35 | 15.6:1 | 43% (236) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for PS 159.
About PS 159
PS 159 is an elementary school located in BAYSIDE, New York, in Queens County. It is open to students in pre-K through 5 and enrolls 504 students.
PS 159 is among 34 schools run by NEW YORK CITY GEOGRAPHIC DISTRICT #26, which serves 29,203 students.
Federal enrollment data show PS 159 is 59% Asian. Other groups make up 19% White and 19% Hispanic. Queens County as a whole is about 26% Asian, so the school's share is higher. The diversity index for PS 159 is 57%. For US public schools as a whole it is 70%.
PS 159 reports a ratio of 14.0 students per teacher, from 36 full-time-equivalent teachers. The school's 14.0:1 compares with an average of 12.8:1 for elementary schools in New York. Lunch program data show 61% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price meals. That is 16 points below the 77% average for public schools in Queens County.
Among New York public elementary schools, PS 159 outscored 91%, which works out to an A on the allk12 Grade.
PS 159 is in the top 10% of New York schools on the allk12 BeatsExpectations measure. Based on its free or reduced-price lunch share, the model predicts an average proficiency rate across its state test results of 52.5%. The school's actual rate is 73.1%, 20.7 points higher.
The school's county is Queens County. According to Census Bureau estimates, the median household earns about $86,136 a year, roughly 36% of adults have a four-year degree or more, and about 10% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Public schools in Queens County number 392, with about 268,205 students.
Measured in a straight line, BAYSIDE HIGH SCHOOL is about 0.2 miles from PS 159. The five-mile area around PS 159 holds at least 8 other public schools. PS 159 comes in 4th of 9 nearby schools on average proficiency.
Federal records code the school's setting as City: Large.
Over the 4 years from 2020-21 to 2024-25, enrollment decreased 22%. The school's ratio dropped from 15.4:1 to 14.0:1 between 2020-21 and 2024-25.
Anyone can start a thread about open houses, carpools, and field trips at PS 159. Parents, students, alumni, and staff are welcome to post.
Queens County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
2,323,052
Census ACS
Median income
$86,136
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
36%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
10%
Below federal line
Schools in county
392
268,205 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in NEW YORK CITY GEOGRAPHIC DISTRICT #26
- FRANCIS LEWIS HIGH SCHOOLHigh · 4,573 students
- BAYSIDE HIGH SCHOOLHigh · 3,004 students
- BENJAMIN N CARDOZO HIGH SCHOOLHigh · 2,866 students
- JHS 216 GEORGE J RYANMiddle · 1,516 students
- MARTIN VAN BUREN HIGH SCHOOLHigh · 1,131 students
- JHS 74 NATHANIEL HAWTHORNEMiddle · 1,104 students
Other schools in BAYSIDE
- BAYSIDE HIGH SCHOOLHigh · 3,004 students
- BENJAMIN N CARDOZO HIGH SCHOOLHigh · 2,866 students
- JHS 74 NATHANIEL HAWTHORNEMiddle · 1,104 students
- MS 158 MARIE CURIEMiddle · 838 students
- PS 203 OAKLAND GARDENSElementary · 818 students
- PS 46 ALLEY PONDElementary · 520 students
Nearby schools
- BAYSIDE HIGH SCHOOL0.2 mi · 3,004
- WORLD JOURNALISM PREPARATORY: A COLLEGE BOARD SCHOOL0.5 mi · 613
- IS 25 ADRIEN BLOCK0.5 mi · 1,023
- PS 32 STATE STREET0.6 mi · 815
- PS 41 CROCHERON0.7 mi · 445
- PS 1300.7 mi · 361
Frequently asked questions
About PS 159How many students attend PS 159?
PS 159 enrolls approximately 504 students in grades PK-05.
Is PS 159 an elementary, middle, or high school?
PS 159 is an elementary school covering grades PK-05.
How many students per teacher at PS 159?
Approximately 14.0:1 students per teacher at PS 159.
What is the student diversity at PS 159?
Student demographics at PS 159 are roughly 19% White, 19% Hispanic, 0% Black, 59% Asian, 2% Two or more.
Who oversees PS 159?
PS 159 is overseen by NEW YORK CITY GEOGRAPHIC DISTRICT #26 in Queens County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.