Enrollment
284
Elementary
DISTRICT 491 · STATE 443
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·BUFFALO CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT·NCES 360585000317
PS 17
1045 W DELAVAN AVE, BUFFALO, NY 14209 · (716) 816-3150 · Erie County
GRADES PK–04ELEMENTARY11-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL284 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
9.1:1
31 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 10.4:1 · STATE 12.8:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
93%
264 students
DISTRICT 88% · STATE 58%
Community
0
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 | 53 | 19% |
| Kindergarten | 51 | 18% |
| Grade 1 | 47 | 17% |
| Grade 2 | 50 | 18% |
| Grade 3 | 43 | 15% |
| Grade 4 | 40 | 14% |
This year's kindergarten class (51) is 28% larger than its 4th grade class (40).
Student demographics
54%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 73% · 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
18.0%
NY avg 58.3% . +4.0pp since 2023
Math
24.0%
NY avg 57.4% . +11.0pp since 2023
What this means: On the NYS Assessments, New York's statewide test, about 18 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 24 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 4 points since 2023, while math scores are up about 11 points.
NYS Assessments results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 18.0% | 24.0% |
| 2023-24 | 14.0% | 13.0% |
% 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
UNDERPERFORMING
Bottom 10% of NY schools after controlling for student poverty
Actual proficiency
17.1%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
40.8%
based on NY schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-23.7pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 17% of students here test proficient in math and reading, below the roughly 41% typical for New York schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations compares each school with others at the same poverty level, not by raw scores, so a school lands here when its results trail those comparable schools, which is not the same as having low scores. A higher-scoring school can still fall in this tier if similar schools score higher still.
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 17
PS 17's state test result (17.1% proficient) is higher than 1 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| PS 17 this school | 284 | 93.0% | 17.1% |
| CHARTER SCHOOL OF INQUIRY BUFFALO | 276 | 93.1% | 15.8% |
| PS 92 ADRIAN HEGEMAN BROOKLYN | 251 | 91.6% | 41.1% |
| PS 36 SAINT ALBANS SCHOOL SAINT ALBANS | 277 | 85.6% | 34.4% |
| PS 375 JACKIE ROBINSON SCHOOL BROOKLYN | 239 | 90.8% | 47.4% |
| PS 289 GEORGE V BROWER BROOKLYN | 280 | 90.7% | 54.2% |
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 17 ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In New York | In Erie County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 17.1% | #2,278 of 2,335 | #99 of 115 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 24.0% | #2,208 of 2,342 ▲ 89 | #89 of 115 ▲ 16 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 18.0% | #2,296 of 2,343 ▼ 27 | #100 of 115 ▲ 3 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 284 | #2,080 of 2,585 | #107 of 123 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 9.1:1 | #184 of 2,338 | #11 of 119 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 53.7% | #1,075 of 2,388 | #47 of 119 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 93.0% | #298 of 2,534 | #27 of 122 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -29.9% | #285 of 1,757 | #6 of 68 |
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
284
-54 (-16%) vs 2020
-69% since 1990-91, when it was 911
Student : Teacher
9.1:1
was 9.9:1
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 | 284 | 31.3 | 9.1:1 | 93% (264) |
| 2023-24 | 278 | 32.3 | 8.6:1 | 88% (246) |
| 2022-23 | 309 | 35 | 8.8:1 | 91% (281) |
| 2020-21 | 338 | 34 | 9.9:1 | 87% (293) |
| 2017-18 | 405 | 35 | 11.6:1 | 74% (301) |
| 2015-16 | 456 | 32 | 14.3:1 | 74% (336) |
| 2010-11 | 426 | 21 | 20.3:1 | 91% (389) |
| 2000-01 | 662 | 36 | 18.4:1 | 85% (564) |
| 1990-91 | 911 | 37 | 24.6:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for PS 17.
About PS 17
PS 17 is a low-enrollment elementary school in BUFFALO CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT, located in BUFFALO, New York. The student body numbers 284 students, from pre-K through 4. An average school in this group (elementary schools in New York) has about 443 students.
BUFFALO CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT counts 61 schools and 29,425 students, including PS 17.
At PS 17, Black students make up 66% of the student body. Next come 11% Hispanic, 9% Asian, 8% White, and 6% multiracial. The county population is about 13% Black. The school's diversity index is 54%, meaning two students picked at random have a 54% chance of belonging to different racial or ethnic groups.
Federal records show a student-to-teacher ratio of 9.1:1 at PS 17, with 31.3 full-time-equivalent teachers. On average, elementary schools in New York have 12.8:1, compared with 9.1:1 here. The count of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch equals 93% of enrollment. Across public schools in Erie County, the average is 51%.
In New York, PS 17 is one of the bottom 10% of schools on BeatsExpectations, with an average proficiency rate on state tests of 17.1% compared with a predicted 40.8%.
In the county around the school, Erie County, the median household income is $72,839, about 38% of adults have at least a bachelor's degree, and roughly 9% of residents are in poverty. Erie County is home to 226 public schools and about 122,519 public school students.
BUFFALO ACADEMY FOR THE VISUAL & PERFORMING ARTS is the nearest neighboring public school, about 0.5 miles away. Within five miles of PS 17, there are at least 8 other public schools. Among its closest neighbors with test data, PS 17 is 7th of 9 on proficiency.
PS 17 falls in the City: Large locale category, used for schools inside a principal city with a population of 250,000 or more.
PS 17's enrollment declined from 338 in 2020-21 to 284 in 2024-25.
To ask about school events, clubs, and volunteer needs, start a discussion on this page. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.
Erie County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
950,622
Census ACS
Median income
$72,839
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
38%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
9%
Below federal line
Schools in county
226
122,519 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in BUFFALO CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT
- HUTCHINSON CENTRAL TECHNICAL HIGH SCHOOLHigh · 1,140 students
- CITY HONORS SCHOOLHigh · 1,088 students
- INTERNATIONAL SCHOOLElementary · 933 students
- FREDERICK OLMSTED #156High · 928 students
- MCKINLEY VOCATIONAL HIGH SCHOOLHigh · 862 students
- SOUTH PARK HIGH SCHOOLHigh · 801 students
Other schools in BUFFALO
- CHARTER SCHOOL FOR APPLIED TECHNOLOGIESCombined · 2,260 students
- KENMORE WEST SENIOR HIGH SCHOOLHigh · 1,235 students
- HUTCHINSON CENTRAL TECHNICAL HIGH SCHOOLHigh · 1,140 students
- TAPESTRY CHARTER SCHOOLCombined · 1,120 students
- CITY HONORS SCHOOLHigh · 1,088 students
- INTERNATIONAL SCHOOLElementary · 933 students
Other Ps 17 schools
One other US public school is named Ps 17. PS 17 is the 2nd largest of the 2.
- PS 17BRONX, NY · 692 students
Nearby schools
- BUFFALO ACADEMY FOR THE VISUAL & PERFORMING ARTS0.5 mi · 617
- BUFFALO ACADEMY OF SCIENCE CHARTER SCHOOL0.5 mi · 899
- PS 74 HAMLIN PARK - CLAUDE AND OUIDA CLAPP ACADEMY0.6 mi · 396
- LEONARDO DA VINCI HIGH SCHOOL0.7 mi · 363
- COMMUNITY SCHOOL #530.8 mi · 464
- HEALTH SCIENCES CHARTER SCHOOL0.9 mi · 452
Frequently asked questions
About PS 17How large is PS 17?
PS 17 enrolls approximately 284 students in grades PK-04.
What age range does PS 17 serve?
PS 17 serves students from grade PK through grade 04.
What is the student-teacher ratio at PS 17?
The student-to-teacher ratio at PS 17 is approximately 9.1:1 (31 FTE teachers).
What is the racial breakdown of students at PS 17?
At PS 17, the student body is approximately 8% White, 11% Hispanic, 66% Black, 9% Asian, 6% Two or more.
Is PS 17 public or private?
PS 17 is a public K-12 school, overseen by BUFFALO CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.