East Side Elementary School, PS 267

PS 267 sits in rare air academically. ELA proficiency at 91.7% and math at 95.4% both run well above the District 2 averages of roughly 73% on each measure, and the overall school quality score of 3.74/4.0 towers over the district's 2.91 average. By grade, the picture is even sharper: 100% of fifth-graders hit proficiency in ELA and 97.4% in math. The trend over the past decade has been an upward march — from the high 70s in 2016 to mid-90s today — with a brief COVID-era dip in 2022 that has since been more than recovered. This is a school where students aren't just passing; they're outperforming most of the city.

Day-to-day culture here is unusually strong across nearly every survey dimension. Parents give the principal 96% trust and their own teachers 95% — both signs that the home-school relationship is working. Teachers rate instruction quality at 99% (well above the district's 90% average) and report 100% on safety, meaning the adults in the building feel both supported and secure. Teacher-to-principal trust at 82% is the one softer spot, though still respectable. The discipline record is pristine: zero suspensions over three straight years. The only asterisk is that only 16 teachers completed the survey, so those numbers carry a bit more uncertainty than they would at a larger school.

PS 267's student body looks like a microcosm of the broader Upper East Side: 65% white, 16% Asian, 11% Hispanic, 6% multiracial, and just 2% Black, with an economic need index of only 9.5% — a sharp contrast to a city-average elementary. About 17% of students have IEPs, so special education is meaningfully represented even within this affluent profile. The diversity index lands at 59%, reflecting real but limited racial mix. The PTA raised $558,935 last year — roughly $1,444 per student, nearly three times the district average — which translates into programming, enrichment, and probably a longer school day than most public elementary kids get.

The school sits in the heart of the Upper East Side's Lenox Hill neighborhood, where median household income is $138,621, only 8% of residents live in poverty, and 80% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher. Roughly one in five households has children, and homeownership is relatively low at 28% — most families live in doorman buildings and rent rather than own. Median home values sit around $1.23 million, so this is a neighborhood where academic expectations and parental involvement are baked into the culture long before a child turns five.

Transit is a major asset here. The Lexington Avenue/63 Street station (M and Q) is about a three-minute walk, Lexington/59 Street (N, R, W) is four minutes, and 68 Street–Hunter College (6) is about six minutes — meaning almost every family in the zone can reach the school via a short walk or a single subway line.