PS 49 WILLIS AVENUE

PS 49 WILLIS AVENUE is an elementary school of average-sized scale in BRONX, New York, overseen by NEW YORK CITY GEOGRAPHIC DISTRICT # 7, serveing 447 students in grades pre-K through 5.

NEW YORK CITY GEOGRAPHIC DISTRICT # 7 comprises 41 schools with combined enrollment of 13,625 students; PS 49 WILLIS AVENUE is among them.

Looking at the student body, PS 49 WILLIS AVENUE records that the largest single group is Hispanic, at 72% of enrollment; the rest reads as 25% Black. The wider county runs roughly 55% Hispanic, putting the school's mix meaningfully more Hispanic than the area baseline.

In terms of school funding signals, Staff filings list 45 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to roughly 9.9:1 students per teacher. The state averages around 12.8:1, so this campus is tighter than the state norm typical. Roughly 98% of students at PS 49 WILLIS AVENUE qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which schools and policymakers use as a rough income-mix signal.

On a residual basis (actual vs predicted given the student mix), PS 49 WILLIS AVENUE sits in the middle band of the BeatsExpectations distribution. Schools with this campus's student mix typically land near 38.8%; this one delivers 54.8%.

In the broader community, the surrounding county (Bronx County) reports that median household income runs about $48,676, roughly 22% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and roughly 23% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Across Bronx County's 472 public schools (combined enrollment of about 202,028 students), PS 49 WILLIS AVENUE is one campus in the mix.

CHOICE CHARTER SCHOOL is the nearest neighboring public school, about 0.1 miles from this campus. 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 49 WILLIS AVENUE ranks 3rd on composite proficiency, above the local average of 46.2%.

PS 49 WILLIS AVENUE operates from an urban location.

Trend over the last 7 years. Over the past 7-year window, the student count declined 32%: 660 students in 2018 compared to 447 in 2025. The student-to-teacher ratio narrowed from 11.0:1 in 2018 to 9.9:1 today.

On this page, the feed for PS 49 WILLIS AVENUE typically covers fundraisers, lost-and-found posts, and report-card season. Posting is open to anyone connected to the school.