P.S. 132 Juan Pablo Duarte

P.S. 132 has gone from below 20% proficiency in both subjects in 2016 to 46.7% in ELA and 60.2% in math in 2025 — an extraordinary multi-year climb. Math now sits roughly 8 points above the District 6 average of 52.1%, while ELA is essentially even with the district average of 47.1%. The school's overall quality score of 2.14/4 edges past the district average of 1.98. Scores by grade are uneven: Grade 4 is genuinely strong (63.6% ELA, 76.5% math), but Grade 5 drops sharply (24.1% ELA, 41.4% math), suggesting the transition out of elementary is where gains begin to slip.

The day-to-day feel is unusually connected — 99% of parents say they're satisfied, teacher confidence in classroom instruction is a perfect 100%, and 99% of families responded to the survey, an engagement rate most schools can only dream of. Discipline is essentially a non-issue: zero suspensions the past two years. Teacher-reported safety is 92%, a hair below the district average of 93.2%, and teacher trust in the principal sits at 91%. The cloud over all of this is the 82.9% chronic absenteeism rate, which signals that many individual students are missing large chunks of the school year even when daily attendance looks fine.

The student body is 94% Hispanic, 4% Black, and 1% White — a diversity index of 14%, among the most homogeneous in the district. That profile mirrors northern Washington Heights itself, a long-standing Dominican cultural hub in upper Manhattan. 35% of students have IEPs, well above the citywide norm, reflecting both the level of identified need and the school's inclusive posture. The economic need index of 89.9 indicates a high-poverty population where most families qualify for free or reduced-price lunch.

Washington Heights (North) is a working- and middle-class neighborhood anchored by a deep Dominican heritage. Median household income sits around $76,919, with a 14% poverty rate, and 41.8% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher. Homeownership is low at 17.5%, reflecting a renter-majority area where longtime families rent alongside newer arrivals. About 13% of neighborhood households include children, which is typical of a dense, family-rooted stretch of upper Manhattan.

The school is exceptionally well-served by transit. The 181 St station on the 1 line is about a two-minute walk, the 181 St A station is roughly five minutes away, and the 191 St 1 stop is around nine minutes on foot — three lines within easy reach of the building.