At a Glance
A small East Village elementary where families stay close and test scores have climbed well above district norms
Best suited for
Families who want a small, relationship-driven elementary school in a walkable Manhattan neighborhood, and who value parent voice and a calm disciplinary climate over a wide roster of programs and electives.
Overall Rating
Rating = average of NY State ELA + math proficiency, grades 3–8
Bands are Motley's thresholds on a 0–100 scale, not New York State performance levels.
How this is scored→What stands out
- Zero suspensions reported across three consecutive years
- Perfect 100% score on strong teacher-student-family relationships
- Parent trust in teachers and principal both at 97% — among the highest in the district
- ELA and math proficiency meaningfully above District 1 averages
- Small enrollment of 179 students creates a tight-knit community
Things to consider
- Chronic absenteeism at 56.4% is high — more than half of students are missing meaningful school time
- Teacher-reported instruction quality at 80.4% sits below the district average of 87.1%
- Grade 5 math proficiency drops to 48.1% even as Grade 5 ELA hits 80.8% — the math ceiling appears earlier
- High economic need index (87.9%) means the school serves many families under financial pressure
- Small size means fewer electives, sports teams, and enrichment options than larger schools
Based on 2024-2025 data
School SummaryDistrict 1
Within District 1, P.S. 015 sits comfortably in the middle of the pack — well above the district's lower-scoring schools like The Children's Workshop School and P.S. 110, but a step behind standouts like New Explorations and P.S. 184m Shuang Wen. Its 2.55 overall score beats the district average of 1.98 by a real margin, placing it as a solid, reliable choice rather than a flagship.
Academics
At 66.7% ELA proficiency and 60.6% math proficiency, P.S. 015 sits comfortably above the District 1 averages of roughly 51.7% and 47.4% — meaningful outperformance, not a rounding error. The trajectory has been bumpy: scores climbed steeply from 2016 through 2019, dipped sharply during the pandemic years, and have now rebuilt to 2025 levels that exceed pre-pandemic highs. By grade, the picture is uneven — Grade 4 is the standout (72.7% ELA, 81.8% math), Grade 3 is solid, and Grade 5 math at 48.1% lags behind Grade 5 ELA at 80.8%, suggesting math instruction may not be sticking as well in the upper grade.
Culture
The culture signals here are strikingly positive on the parent side: 96% parent satisfaction, 97% parent-teacher trust, 97% parent-principal trust, and a perfect 100% on strong relationships. The school also reported zero suspensions across three years — a rare feat that suggests either genuinely warm classroom management or a small population where incidents simply don't arise. The one cooler signal is teacher-reported instruction quality at 80.4%, which sits below the district average of 87.1% — worth asking what teachers themselves think is getting in the way of stronger classroom practice. Attendance is right at the district norm (89.3%), but chronic absenteeism of 56.4% is high, meaning more than half of students missed enough school to flag as chronically absent.
Community
The student body is majority Hispanic (52%) with a strong Black contingent (28%) and meaningful Asian (12%) and White (7%) representation — a diversity index of 67%. Economic need is high at 87.9%, meaning most families qualify for support, and 21% of students have IEPs. The East Village around the school is a different demographic picture: highly educated (59.5% with a bachelor's or higher), relatively low-income by Manhattan standards, and notably child-sparse at just 6.6% of households having kids. That gap means the school draws from a wider catchment than its immediate blocks.
Neighborhood
The East Village is one of Manhattan's denser, more child-sparse neighborhoods — only about 6.6% of households have children, while 59.5% of adults hold a bachelor's degree and the median home value sits north of $1 million. Median household income is $87,728 with a 24.7% poverty rate, which paints a picture of a mixed-income, renter-heavy neighborhood where families with kids are a small but committed minority. Most adults here are young professionals, and the streets reflect that rhythm.
Families reach P.S. 015 mostly on foot. The closest subway options are the Delancey St-Essex St station complex (F, M, J, Z lines) about an 11-minute walk away, or the 1 Av stop on the L about a 13-minute walk. There is no subway right at the school's doorstep — plan for a stroller-pushing commute.
Academic Performance
ELA Proficiency
Students scoring proficient or above on the NY State ELA exam.
NYC DOE InfoHub · 2022-23
Math Proficiency
Students scoring proficient or above on the NY State Math exam.
NYC DOE InfoHub · 2022-23
Historical Trends
The dashed line marks 2023, when New York changed its grades 3–8 state tests. Scores before and after it aren’t directly comparable.
2020–2021 data unavailable due to COVID-19
Source: NYC DOE School Quality Reports
Survey Results
NYC School Survey (2025) · 118 families responded (77% rate)
Racial & Ethnic Diversity
NYC DOE InfoHub · 2022-23
Discipline
NYSED Student & Educator Database (2023-24)
Economic Need & Special Populations
How to get in, step by step
Pre-K
P.S. 015 Roberto Clemente also has Pre-K classes. They're a separate application from kindergarten, made on MySchools.
Pre-K application
Applications typically open in the winter and close in the spring, with offers in late spring; the city announces exact dates each year.
Kindergarten
District 1 is a school-choice district, so it has no elementary zones: no address guarantees a seat at P.S. 015 Roberto Clemente. Families across the district apply on MySchools, and seats go to priority groups first (siblings, then families in the district), then by random lottery.
Kindergarten application
- Opens
- Wed, Dec 9
- Closes
- Fri, Jan 22
- Offers
- Tue, Mar 30
The DOE’s published dates.
- 1Apply on MySchools during the kindergarten application.
- 2Rank every school you'd accept, in true preference order — with no zoned seat to fall back on, a longer list matters.
Open houses and tours
We haven’t seen open-house dates for this school yet.
From the MySchools admissions calendar, checked weekly.
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Frequently Asked Questions
- Is P.S. 015 Roberto Clemente a good school?
- On Motley, P.S. 015 Roberto Clemente earns an overall rating of 64/100 — the average of the school's New York State ELA and math proficiency, grades 3–8, shown out of 100. Its state test results run above the District 1 average.
- What grades does P.S. 015 Roberto Clemente serve?
- P.S. 015 Roberto Clemente serves grades Pre-K to 5.
- How do students get into P.S. 015 Roberto Clemente?
- P.S. 015 Roberto Clemente admits by application through a random lottery, with no academic screen.
- Is P.S. 015 Roberto Clemente public, charter, or private?
- P.S. 015 Roberto Clemente is a public school in NYC Community School District 1.
- What neighborhood is P.S. 015 Roberto Clemente in?
- P.S. 015 Roberto Clemente is in East Village, Manhattan.