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What's something PS 163 ALFRED E SMITH does better than most schools?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
466
Elementary
DISTRICT 436 · STATE 443
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·NEW YORK CITY GEOGRAPHIC DISTRICT # 3·NCES 360007802584
PS 163 ALFRED E SMITH
163 W 97TH ST, NEW YORK, NY 10025 · (212) 678-2854 · New York County
GRADES PK–05ELEMENTARY11-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL466 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
11.7:1
40 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 12.2:1 · STATE 12.8:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
67%
314 students
DISTRICT 65% · 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
Student demographics
Student head counts by race/ethnicity from federal NCES enrollment data. 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
57.0%
NY avg 58.3% . +1.0pp since 2023
Math
56.0%
NY avg 57.4% . -2.0pp since 2023
What this means: On the NYS Assessments, New York's statewide test, about 57 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 56 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all New York schools, those numbers are about 58 and 57. Reading and writing scores are up about 1 points since 2023, while math scores are down about 2 points.
Source: NYS Assessments. All students, all grades. See all years and grades →
BeatsExpectations
Demographically-adjusted score · methodologyTier
AS EXPECTED
Performing as predicted given the school's student profile
Actual proficiency
54.6%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
50.2%
based on NY schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+4.4pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 55% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 50% typical for New York schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations measures results against demographically similar schools rather than by raw scores, and this school falls within the typical range, neither among New York's top nor bottom 10%.
BeatsExpectations runs a per-state regression of proficiency on free/reduced-lunch share, then scores each school by residual. How this is calculated →
7-year change
SY 2017-18 vs SY 2024-25Enrollment
466
-97 (-17%) vs 2017
Student : Teacher
11.7:1
was 13.1:1
% White
13%
was 31%
% Hispanic
64%
was 42%
% Black
14%
was 16%
% Asian
5%
was 5%
Source: NCES Common Core of Data
About PS 163 ALFRED E SMITH
PS 163 ALFRED E SMITH is one of the mid-tier elementary schools in NEW YORK, New York, one of the schools within NEW YORK CITY GEOGRAPHIC DISTRICT # 3, with 466 students on its rolls from grades pre-K through 5.
NEW YORK CITY GEOGRAPHIC DISTRICT # 3 comprises 44 schools with combined enrollment of 19,478 students; PS 163 ALFRED E SMITH is among them.
In terms of who attends, PS 163 ALFRED E SMITH lists that 64% of the student body identifies as Hispanic; the rest looks like 14% Black, 13% White, 5% Asian, 3% multiracial. By comparison, New York County as a whole is about 24% Hispanic, so the school skews noticeably more Hispanic than its surroundings.
In terms of school funding signals, The school currently runs with 40 full-time-equivalent teachers, for a student-teacher ratio near 11.7:1. Statewide, the average ratio sits near 12.8:1, putting PS 163 ALFRED E SMITH tighter than the state norm the norm. About 67% of enrolled students meet the income threshold for free or reduced-price lunch, which schools and policymakers use as a rough income-mix signal.
Adjusting for the school's free-and-reduced-lunch share, PS 163 ALFRED E SMITH sits in the middle band of the BeatsExpectations distribution. Schools with this campus's student mix typically land near 50.2%; this one delivers 54.6%.
In the surrounding community, New York County reports that the typical household earns roughly $103,931 per year, 64% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 13%. In all, New York County runs 358 public schools (combined enrollment of about 152,104 students), of which PS 163 ALFRED E SMITH is one.
Nearest neighbor: YOUNG WOMEN'S LEADERSHIP SCHOOL, around 0.2 miles off. Counting just inside five miles, 8 other public schools cluster around PS 163 ALFRED E SMITH. On composite proficiency, PS 163 ALFRED E SMITH comes 5th of 8 in the immediate cluster, ahead of the nearby-schools average of 53.2%.
Geographically, the school is in a metropolitan area.
Over the past 7-year window. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at PS 163 ALFRED E SMITH has shrank 17%, going from 563 students in 2018 to 466 in 2025. Over the same period, the Hispanic share ticked up from 42% to 64%. Class-load math has pulled in: from 13.1:1 in 2018 to 11.7:1 in 2025.
On this page, posts here usually surface around enrollment questions, classroom assignments, and PTA news. Parents, students, alumni, and staff are welcome to weigh in.
New York County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
1,629,477
Census ACS
Median income
$103,931
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
64%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
13%
Below federal line
Schools in county
358
152,104 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in NEW YORK CITY GEOGRAPHIC DISTRICT # 3
- FIORELLO H LAGUARDIA HIGH SCHOOLHigh · 2,251 students
- BEACON HIGH SCHOOLHigh · 1,372 students
- PS 87 WILLIAM SHERMANElementary · 751 students
- WEST END SECONDARY SCHOOLHigh · 722 students
- JHS 54 BOOKER T WASHINGTONMiddle · 720 students
- PS 84 LILLIAN WEBERElementary · 685 students
Other schools in NEW YORK
- STUYVESANT HIGH SCHOOLHigh · 3,261 students
- FIORELLO H LAGUARDIA HIGH SCHOOLHigh · 2,251 students
- HIGH SCHOOL FOR HEALTH PROFESSIONS & HUMAN SERVICESHigh · 1,728 students
- MANHATTAN CENTER FOR SCIENCE & MATHEMATICSHigh · 1,657 students
- NEW EXPLORATIONS INTO SCIENCETECH AND MATH HIGH SCHOOLCombined · 1,620 students
- SUCCESS ACADEMY CHARTER SCHOOL-HARLEM 1Combined · 1,520 students
Nearby schools
- YOUNG WOMEN'S LEADERSHIP SCHOOL0.2 mi · 360
- EDWARD A REYNOLDS WEST SIDE HIGH SCHOOL0.2 mi · 185
- COMMUNITY ACTION SCHOOL-MS 2580.2 mi · 139
- PS 333 MANHATTAN SCHOOL FOR CHILDREN0.2 mi · 438
- LAFAYETTE ACADEMY0.2 mi · 194
- PS 75 EMILY DICKINSON0.3 mi · 453
Frequently asked questions
About PS 163 ALFRED E SMITHHow many students attend PS 163 ALFRED E SMITH?
PS 163 ALFRED E SMITH enrolls approximately 466 students in grades PK-05.
What grades does PS 163 ALFRED E SMITH serve?
PS 163 ALFRED E SMITH serves grades PK-05.
What is the student-teacher ratio at PS 163 ALFRED E SMITH?
The student-to-teacher ratio at PS 163 ALFRED E SMITH is approximately 11.7:1 (40 FTE teachers).
What is the racial breakdown of students at PS 163 ALFRED E SMITH?
At PS 163 ALFRED E SMITH, the student body is approximately 13% White, 64% Hispanic, 14% Black, 5% Asian, 3% Two or more.
Who oversees PS 163 ALFRED E SMITH?
PS 163 ALFRED E SMITH is overseen by NEW YORK CITY GEOGRAPHIC DISTRICT # 3 in New York County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.