Enrollment
217
Elementary
DISTRICT 469 · STATE 443
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·NEW YORK CITY GEOGRAPHIC DISTRICT #29·NCES 360010102765
PS 251
144-51 ARTHUR ST, SPRINGFIELD GARDENS, NY 11413 · (718) 276-2745 · Queens County
GRADES PK–05ELEMENTARY11-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL217 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
9.9:1
22 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 11.9:1 · STATE 12.8:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
76%
165 students
DISTRICT 79% · 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
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
69.0%
NY avg 58.3% . +9.0pp since 2023
Math
66.0%
NY avg 57.4% . +1.0pp since 2023
What this means: On the NYS Assessments, New York's statewide test, about 69 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 66 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 9 points since 2023, while math scores are up about 1 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
63.0%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
47.0%
based on NY schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+16.0pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 63% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 47% 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
217
-122 (-36%) vs 2017
Student : Teacher
9.9:1
was 12.6:1
% White
1%
was 1%
% Hispanic
22%
was 8%
% Black
62%
was 84%
% Asian
7%
was 6%
Source: NCES Common Core of Data
About PS 251
Located at 144-51 ARTHUR ST, in SPRINGFIELD GARDENS, New York, PS 251 is a low-enrollment elementary school that serves 217 students (grades pre-K through 5), one of the schools within NEW YORK CITY GEOGRAPHIC DISTRICT #29. By comparison, New York's public schools average about 443 students each, so PS 251 sits 51% smaller than that benchmark.
NEW YORK CITY GEOGRAPHIC DISTRICT #29 comprises 46 schools with combined enrollment of 21,817 students; PS 251 is among them.
Demographically, PS 251 logs that 62% of the student body identifies as Black; the rest looks like 22% Hispanic, 7% Asian, 5% multiracial, 3% Native American. That is meaningfully more Black than the county at large, where the share is closer to 17%.
In terms of school funding signals, On paper, PS 251 has 22 full-time-equivalent teachers, translating to a class-load average of around 9.9:1. The state averages around 12.8:1, so this campus is tighter than the state norm typical. An estimated 76% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, often used as a Title I proxy.
Adjusting for the school's free-and-reduced-lunch share, PS 251 sits in the middle band of the BeatsExpectations distribution. Schools with this campus's student mix typically land near 47.0%; this one delivers 63.0%.
Around the school, community-level numbers for Queens County indicate the typical household earns roughly $86,136 per year, 36% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 10%. In all, Queens County runs 392 public schools (combined enrollment of about 268,205 students), of which PS 251 is one.
Nearest neighbor: COMMUNITY VOICES MIDDLE SCHOOL, around 0.0 miles off. Counting just inside five miles, 8 other public schools cluster around PS 251. Among the 9 schools in that immediate cluster with test data (this one included), PS 251 ranks 3rd on composite proficiency, ahead of the local average of 49.2%.
Geographically, the school is in a downtown area.
Over the past 7-year window. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at PS 251 has fell 36%, going from 339 students in 2018 to 217 in 2025. Over the same period, the Black share declined from 84% to 62%. Class-load math has pulled in: from 12.6:1 in 2018 to 9.9:1 in 2025.
On allk12, posts here usually surface around pickup logistics, teacher feedback, and after-school programs. Parents, students, alumni, and staff are welcome to weigh in.
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 #29
- PS 95 EASTWOODElementary · 1,103 students
- JEAN NUZZI INTERMEDIATE SCHOOLMiddle · 894 students
- IS 238 SUSAN B ANTHONY ACADEMYMiddle · 820 students
- PATHWAYS COLLEGE PREPARATORY SCHOOL: A COLLEGE BOARD SCHOOLHigh · 818 students
- PS/IS 116 WILLIAM C HUGHLEYElementary · 806 students
- PS 131 ABIGAIL ADAMSElementary · 754 students
Other schools in SPRINGFIELD GARDENS
- SUCCESS ACADEMY CHARTER SCHOOL - SPRINGFIELD GARDENSElementary · 998 students
- MERRICK ACADEMY-QUEENS PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOLElementary · 732 students
- PREPARATORY ACADEMY FOR WRITERS: A COLLEGE BOARD SCHOOLHigh · 521 students
- EXCELSIOR PREPARATORY HIGH SCHOOLHigh · 480 students
- GEORGE WASHINGTON CARVER HIGH SCHOOL FOR THE SCIENCESHigh · 421 students
- IS 59 SPRINGFIELD GARDENSMiddle · 401 students
Nearby schools
- COMMUNITY VOICES MIDDLE SCHOOL0.0 mi · 293
- COLLABORATIVE ARTS MIDDLE SCHOOL0.0 mi · 286
- EXCELSIOR PREPARATORY HIGH SCHOOL0.2 mi · 480
- PREPARATORY ACADEMY FOR WRITERS: A COLLEGE BOARD SCHOOL0.2 mi · 521
- QUEENS PREPARATORY ACADEMY0.2 mi · 320
- GEORGE WASHINGTON CARVER HIGH SCHOOL FOR THE SCIENCES0.2 mi · 421
Frequently asked questions
About PS 251How many students attend PS 251?
PS 251 enrolls approximately 217 students in grades PK-05.
What age range does PS 251 serve?
PS 251 serves students from grade PK through grade 05.
What is the student-teacher ratio at PS 251?
The student-to-teacher ratio at PS 251 is approximately 9.9:1 (22 FTE teachers).
What is the racial breakdown of students at PS 251?
At PS 251, the student body is approximately 1% White, 22% Hispanic, 62% Black, 7% Asian, 5% Two or more.
Is PS 251 public or private?
PS 251 is a public K-12 school, overseen by NEW YORK CITY GEOGRAPHIC DISTRICT #29.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.