At a Glance
A small East Harlem zoned school where reading scores have nearly tripled since 2016 — and not a single suspension in three years.
Best suited for
Families zoned for East Harlem (North) who want a small, relationship-driven school with a clear record of growing readers and a calm disciplinary culture, and whose children are likely to stay through 5th grade where the school's results look strongest.
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
- Reading proficiency has climbed from 23% in 2016 to 57% in 2025 — one of the sharpest sustained turnarounds in the district.
- Zero suspensions in each of the last three reporting years, bucking the citywide trend.
- 5th-grade ELA reaches nearly 69%, suggesting the school grows strong readers over time.
- A genuinely small PK-5 school at 171 students — most families will know most staff.
- 97% of survey respondents report strong school-family relationships, with parent-teacher trust at 93%.
Things to consider
- Math proficiency at 38% trails the district average of 51% by 13 points — a real and persistent gap.
- Chronic absenteeism affects 41% of students, the school's most pressing operational challenge.
- Teacher-reported safety at 80% sits well below the district's 89% — worth asking the school directly what that means day to day.
- 30% of students are classified IEP; this means strong inclusion services but also signals how stretched the building is.
- As a small zoned school, the menu of enrichment, sports, and electives will be more limited than at larger peers.
Based on 2024-25 data
School SummaryDistrict 5
Among District 5 zoned schools, P.S. 030 outperforms on ELA but its overall score of 1.91/4 sits below the district average of 2.09. The district's headline names — Harlem Village Academy and several Success Academy charters — dominate the top of the peer list, but P.S. 030 competes respectably against zoned peers like P.S. 125 Ralph Bunche.
Academics
Reading proficiency at 57% is comfortably above the district average of 54%, while math at 38% trails the district's 51% by a wide margin. The trend line tells the more interesting story — ELA has climbed from 23% in 2016 and math from just 8%, making this one of the steeper multi-year improvement arcs in the data set. Scores by grade show a clear growth pattern: 3rd-grade ELA sits at 47% but 5th-grade ELA reaches 69%, suggesting the school gets substantially stronger results the longer students stay.
Culture
The school looks and feels like a tight community: parent-teacher trust at 93%, parent-principal trust at 92%, and a striking 97% of respondents say the school fosters strong relationships. Three straight years of zero suspensions reinforces a calm, restorative tone. The two flags are attendance — chronic absenteeism hits 41% of students against a district already struggling on this measure — and teacher-reported safety at 80%, well below the district's 89%. Families clearly feel heard here; staff concerns about environment are the thing to ask about.
Community
The student body is 53% Hispanic and 41% Black, with an economic need index of 91 — among the highest in the city — and 30% of students classified IEP, well above the citywide share. The surrounding neighborhood mirrors the school: a median household income around $37,000, a poverty rate above 33%, and a homeownership rate of just 8%. It's a predominantly working-class, renter community, and the school reflects its block.
Neighborhood
P.S. 030 sits in East Harlem (North), where roughly a third of households live below the poverty line and only about 30% of adults hold a bachelor's degree. Homeownership is rare here (8%), and the area is overwhelmingly renter and family-dense in feel even with relatively low official rates of households with children. The neighborhood's median home value sits near $676,000, a reflection of Manhattan's market rather than local incomes. Getting around is easy: the 4/5/6 at 125 St is a short walk.
The 125 St station on the 4, 5, and 6 lines is about a 4-minute walk — the easy default for most families. The 116 St stop on the 6 and 138 St–Grand Concourse on the 4 and 5 are 12- and 13-minute walks for those who live further out.
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) · 105 families responded (53% 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. 030 Hernandez/Hughes 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
P.S. 030 Hernandez/Hughes 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. 030 Hernandez/Hughes a good school?
- On Motley, P.S. 030 Hernandez/Hughes earns an overall rating of 48/100 — 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 in line with the District 5 average.
- What grades does P.S. 030 Hernandez/Hughes serve?
- P.S. 030 Hernandez/Hughes serves grades Pre-K to 5.
- How do students get into P.S. 030 Hernandez/Hughes?
- P.S. 030 Hernandez/Hughes admits by zone — children who live in its attendance zone get a guaranteed seat.
- Is P.S. 030 Hernandez/Hughes public, charter, or private?
- P.S. 030 Hernandez/Hughes is a public school in NYC Community School District 5.
- What neighborhood is P.S. 030 Hernandez/Hughes in?
- P.S. 030 Hernandez/Hughes is in East Harlem (North), Manhattan.