At a Glance
A North Shore elementary where families show up strongly for their kids, even as test scores trail the rest of Staten Island
Best suited for
Families who live in the Port Richmond zone, value strong parent-teacher relationships, and want a school with a gentle discipline culture — and who are prepared to supplement academic support outside the classroom.
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 for three consecutive years — an unusual record that suggests a restorative rather than punitive approach
- Parent satisfaction at 96% is among the highest in the district, signaling families genuinely feel heard
- A clear post-COVID academic recovery, with 2025 scores doubling or more from their 2022 low
- Grade 3 proficiency meaningfully outpaces Grades 4 and 5, hinting at strong early-grade foundations
- High IEP enrollment (36%) means strong special-education staffing and familiarity with diverse learners
Things to consider
- ELA and math proficiency both run about 30 points below district averages — the gap is real, even with the recent recovery
- Chronic absenteeism affects nearly 58% of students, which makes consistent instruction hard to deliver
- Teacher morale is weak: only 54% trust the principal and 59% rate instruction quality positively, well below district norms
- No subway access means a longer commute for any family not living within the zoned area or driving
- The school sits at the bottom of District 31's peer rankings, with top peers scoring 86–99 out of 100
Based on 2024-25 data
School SummaryDistrict 31
Within District 31, P.S. 020 is among the lowest-performing schools on the metrics that matter most — academics and overall score — trailing peer schools like P.S. 35, Naples Street, and P.S. 5 by a wide margin. It is also one of the highest-need schools in the district, with an economic need index of 88%.
Academics
Test scores are well below district averages — 30.9% ELA proficiency and 23.7% math versus roughly 61% in both subjects district-wide. The trajectory, though, is moving in the right direction: after a sharp post-COVID collapse to 7.4% ELA and 4.4% math in 2022, scores have climbed steadily, with 2025 marking the strongest showing since 2018. Grade 3 students perform notably better (43.5% ELA, 32.7% math) than Grade 4 and 5 students, suggesting kids arrive with stronger skills than they leave with.
Culture
The day-to-day climate here looks very different depending on who you ask. Parents report sky-high satisfaction (96%) and strong trust in both teachers and the principal (96% and 92%, both above district norms). But teachers are far less positive — only 59% rate instruction quality as strong (versus 93% district-wide), 54% trust the principal, and 73% feel safe. Attendance is a real concern: nearly 58% of students are chronically absent, well above the district rate. On the upside, the school has had zero suspensions for three straight years.
Community
P.S. 020 serves a student body that's 78% Hispanic and 14% Black, with a high economic need index of 88% and 36% of students classified as IEP — all notably above citywide norms. The neighborhood around the school reflects similar demographics, with a median household income around $74,500 and a 21.6% poverty rate. This is not a racially mixed school in the typical NYC sense — it's a school where one community sends most of its kids, and many of those kids bring significant learning needs to the classroom.
Neighborhood
Port Richmond sits on Staten Island's North Shore, a more working-class, predominantly immigrant stretch of the borough than the rest of Staten Island. About 17.7% of neighborhood households have children, median home value is around $486,000, and just over a quarter of adults hold a bachelor's degree. The area has a strong sense of community but lacks the wealth of Staten Island's South Shore neighborhoods.
There are no subway stations within a 20-minute walk of the school, so most families rely on school buses, cars, or local Staten Island bus routes to get here.
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) · 149 families responded (56% 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
Kindergarten
P.S. 020 Port Richmond has an attendance zone. At elementary level, in-zone students get a guaranteed seat. Every family still applies on MySchools: the application confirms the zoned seat, and ranking other schools doesn't cost you it.
Kindergarten application
- Opens
- Wed, Dec 9
- Closes
- Fri, Jan 22
- Offers
- Tue, Mar 30
The DOE’s published dates.
- 1Check that your address is inside the zone — zones change, so confirm it before you sign a lease.
- 2Apply during the kindergarten application, even with a zoned seat.
- 3Rank this school along with any others you'd take, in true preference order.
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. 020 Port Richmond a good school?
- On Motley, P.S. 020 Port Richmond earns an overall rating of 27/100 — 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 below the District 31 average.
- What grades does P.S. 020 Port Richmond serve?
- P.S. 020 Port Richmond serves grades K to 5.
- How do students get into P.S. 020 Port Richmond?
- P.S. 020 Port Richmond admits by zone — children who live in its attendance zone get a guaranteed seat.
- Is P.S. 020 Port Richmond public, charter, or private?
- P.S. 020 Port Richmond is a public school in NYC Community School District 31.
- What neighborhood is P.S. 020 Port Richmond in?
- P.S. 020 Port Richmond is in Port Richmond, Staten Island.