PS 79 FRANCIS LEWIS

PS 79 FRANCIS LEWIS is one of the roomy elementary campuss in WHITESTONE, New York, overseen by NEW YORK CITY GEOGRAPHIC DISTRICT #25, with 1,088 students on its rolls from grades pre-K through 5. By comparison, New York's public schools average about 443 students each, so PS 79 FRANCIS LEWIS sits 146% bigger than that benchmark.

Across the 46 schools in NEW YORK CITY GEOGRAPHIC DISTRICT #25 (33,704 students total), PS 79 FRANCIS LEWIS accounts for its share of the district's footprint.

Demographically, PS 79 FRANCIS LEWIS shows that the largest single group is Asian, at 61% of enrollment. Beyond that, the school shows 22% Hispanic, 14% White. The wider county runs roughly 26% Asian, putting the school's mix visibly more Asian than the area baseline.

Looking at the economic backdrop, The school employs 71 full-time-equivalent teachers, for a student-teacher ratio near 15.4:1. That figure is higher than the state norm's 12.8:1 average. About 67% of enrolled students meet the income threshold for free or reduced-price lunch, a commonly cited indicator of low-income enrollment. Set against Queens County (around 77%), the school's rate is noticeably below typical.

After controlling for student poverty, PS 79 FRANCIS LEWIS 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 50.4%; this one delivers 83.5%, a residual of +33.1 points.

In the surrounding community, community-level numbers for Queens County indicate median household income runs about $86,136, 36% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and the poverty rate sits near 10%. PS 79 FRANCIS LEWIS is one of 392 public schools in Queens County (combined enrollment of about 268,205 students).

The closest other public school is PS 193 ALFRED J KENNEDY, roughly 0.6 miles away. 8 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius. On composite proficiency, PS 79 FRANCIS LEWIS comes 1st of 9 in the immediate cluster, ahead of the nearby-schools average of 66.7%.

PS 79 FRANCIS LEWIS operates from a city-core location.

Looking at the recent track record. Over the past 7-year window, the student count contracted 4%: 1,133 students in 2018 compared to 1,088 in 2025. White enrollment moved from 28% to 14% across the same window. Class-load math has narrowed: from 18.9:1 in 2018 to 15.4:1 in 2025.

In the discussion threads here, recent activity here tends to focus on fundraisers, lost-and-found posts, and report-card season. Contributors range from current parents to recent graduates and teachers.