I.S. 238 - Susan B. Anthony Academy

The trajectory is the headline here: ELA proficiency moved from 21.4% in 2016 to 45.6% in 2025, and math went from 19.1% to 48% over the same window — essentially a doubling on both measures. Current proficiency still trails district averages (56.9% ELA, 53.7% math), so this is a school catching up rather than leading, but it is catching up fast. Notably, 8th-grade math hits 52.7%, essentially matching the district, suggesting the school's gains compound as students move through the grades. Science proficiency at 23% is a weaker spot to ask about on a tour.

The trust numbers are genuinely strong — parent-principal trust at 97%, parent-teacher trust at 93%, and teacher-principal trust at 86% all signal a unified school community. Parent satisfaction (89%) is just a notch below the district average of 91.4%. The two things parents should put on their questions list: chronic absenteeism sits at 67.8% (meaning roughly two of every three students missed enough school to flag), and the suspension rate is 3%, more than three times the district average of 0.94%, with suspensions edging up modestly year over year. Daily attendance rate (90.2%) is fine, but the chronic-absent figure tells you attendance is uneven across the student body.

Susan B. Anthony reflects a genuinely varied student body — Hispanic 37%, Asian 30%, Black 24%, Native American 7% — with a diversity index of 76%. The economic need index of 75.1 is high, meaning most students come from households facing financial pressure, and 15% of students have IEPs, in line with citywide norms. ELL support is available for newcomer English learners. The neighborhood around the school mirrors that diversity, with a 16.8% poverty rate and a median household income under $62K, so families here tend to share day-to-day realities with the student body rather than sending kids "back" to a very different community.

Jamaica is one of Queens' most family-dense neighborhoods — 25.5% of households have children at home, well above the city average — with a median household income around $61,787 and a 16.8% poverty rate. About a quarter of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and homeownership is low (24.2%), reflecting a largely renter population living in a mix of detached homes and apartment buildings. The area is one of southeast Queens' busiest commercial corridors, which is part of why so many families cluster here.

The F train at Jamaica-179 St is about a 5-minute walk from the school, and the F at 169 St is roughly a 16-minute walk, so most commuting families will lean on the F line.