I.S. 145 Joseph Pulitzer

ELA proficiency (46.4%) and math proficiency (52.9%) both sit below the district averages of 60.7% and 62.2%, so on any given year students here are catching up rather than leading. But the trend line is one of the more encouraging stories in the data — math has nearly doubled since 2016 (29.5% → 52.9%) and ELA has climbed from 31.4% to 46.4%. Scores by grade also tell a useful story: 8th-graders outperform 6th-graders in both subjects (51.8% vs. 41.6% ELA, 59% vs. 46.2% math), suggesting the school gets stronger as kids settle in. Science proficiency at 30.5% is the weakest area and a place where attention may be needed.

The day-to-day feel is mixed but leans positive. Attendance is solid at 93.9%, slightly above the district average of 92.4%, but chronic absenteeism at 81.6% is high — meaning a large share of students are missing enough school to be flagged, a pattern particularly pronounced among Asian students (88.1%) in the breakdown. Families are deeply engaged: 80% of families completed the survey, parent satisfaction is at 95%, and parent-principal trust hits 97%. The interesting wrinkle is the gap between family trust (97%) and teacher-principal trust (77%) — parents feel heard by leadership in a way that teachers don't always echo. Discipline is manageable in absolute terms (13 suspensions), but the rate of 1% is trending up from 8 the prior year and runs well above the district average of 0.275%.

The student body is overwhelmingly Hispanic (92%), with small Asian (5%), White (2%), and Black (1%) populations — a diversity index of just 21% that reflects concentration rather than mixing. That composition mirrors Jackson Heights itself, one of the most globally-rooted neighborhoods in Queens, where many families are first- or second-generation immigrants. The economic need index of 82.6% tells you most students come from households under financial strain, and 17% of students have IEPs. This is a school that serves a working-class, predominantly Spanish-speaking community, and given that ELL Support is one of the named programs, language development is clearly part of the daily work.

Jackson Heights is a working- and middle-class immigrant hub where the median household income is $72,762, about 14% of residents live below the poverty line, and 17.4% of households include children. Roughly a third of adults here hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and homeownership is below 40% — a renter-majority neighborhood where families often share housing across generations. The cultural fabric is dense and global, with Spanish, Bengali, Hindi, and Mandarin commonly heard on the same block. For families choosing this school, the draw is proximity and community familiarity more than affluence.

None of the three nearby subway stations are particularly close — the 82 St–Jackson Hts (7) stop is about an 11-minute walk, with the 74 St–Broadway (7) and Jackson Hts–Roosevelt Av (E, F, M, R) stops both around 12 minutes — so most families will rely on the school bus, a car, or a longer walk rather than a quick subway hop.