PS 176 CAMBRIA HEIGHTS

As a middle-of-the-pack K-5 school in CAMBRIA HEIGHTS, New York, PS 176 CAMBRIA HEIGHTS instructs 561 students from grades pre-K through 5, run under NEW YORK CITY GEOGRAPHIC DISTRICT #29. By comparison, New York's public schools average about 443 students each, so PS 176 CAMBRIA HEIGHTS sits 27% larger than that benchmark.

PS 176 CAMBRIA HEIGHTS is one of 46 schools operated by NEW YORK CITY GEOGRAPHIC DISTRICT #29, a district that serves 21,817 students overall.

Looking at the student body, PS 176 CAMBRIA HEIGHTS logs that nearly all students (85%) are Black. Beyond that, the school records 7% Hispanic, 4% Asian. By comparison, Queens County as a whole is about 17% Black, so the school skews considerably more Black than its surroundings.

Looking at the economic backdrop, On paper, PS 176 CAMBRIA HEIGHTS has 43 full-time-equivalent teachers, translating to a class-load average of around 12.9:1. The state averages about 12.8:1, putting this campus right in line with peers. About 76% of enrolled students meet the income threshold for free or reduced-price lunch, which schools and policymakers use as a rough income-mix signal.

With demographic context factored in, PS 176 CAMBRIA HEIGHTS is in the OUTPERFORMING tier of the BeatsExpectations model, which fits a per-state line through proficiency and FRL share. Schools with this campus's poverty mix typically land near 46.9%; this one delivers 71.3%, a residual of +24.4 points.

In the surrounding community, community-level numbers for Queens County indicate median household earnings sit near $86,136, roughly 36% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and the poverty rate sits near 10%. PS 176 CAMBRIA HEIGHTS is one of 392 public schools in Queens County (combined enrollment of about 268,205 students).

The closest other public school is ALDEN TERRACE SCHOOL, roughly 0.7 miles away. 8 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius. Among the 9 schools in that immediate cluster with test data (this one included), PS 176 CAMBRIA HEIGHTS ranks 1st on composite proficiency, above the local average of 53.6%.

The campus sits in a downtown setting.

Over the past 7-year window. Over the past 7-year window, the student count shrank 21%: 714 students in 2018 compared to 561 in 2025. Over the same period, the Black share ticked up from 70% to 85%. Class-load math has tightened: from 17.0:1 in 2018 to 12.9:1 in 2025.

On this page, the page collects discussion, questions, and updates around open house dates, ride-share offers, and field-trip permission slips. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.