At a Glance
A small K-5 zoned school in Baisley Park whose ELA scores just leapt well above the district average.
Best suited for
Families zoned for the school who value a small, calm elementary with engaged parents and are comfortable navigating a bus commute and a school still working through its attendance challenges.
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
- ELA proficiency jumped 24 percentage points year-over-year, reaching 68.4% in 2025 — well above the district average.
- Zero suspensions for three consecutive years, a remarkable record of classroom calm.
- Parent satisfaction and parent-teacher trust are both above 90%, among the strongest signals a school can show.
- 4th graders post the strongest scores in the school — nearly 79% proficient in math.
- Named after Duke Ellington, the school carries a cultural identity that few neighborhood elementaries can match.
Things to consider
- Chronic absenteeism at 59.4% is the single biggest warning sign in the data — more than half of students are missing too much school.
- Teacher-principal trust at 38% is strikingly low and contrasts sharply with parent trust, suggesting internal staff tensions worth asking about.
- 5th-grade scores drop sharply compared to 3rd and 4th grade, raising questions about what happens as kids approach middle school.
- No subway within 20-minute walking distance means the commute is bus- or car-dependent year-round.
- Higher economic need (78) than most District 28 peers means many families are navigating financial pressure alongside school life.
Based on 2024-25 data
School SummaryDistrict 28
District 28 includes several standout elementaries — P.S. 196 and the Academy for Excellence through the Arts score in the mid-90s — so P.S. 140 is solid but not among the top tier. Its overall rating of 2.6 sits modestly above the district average of 2.51, putting it in the middle of the pack.
Academics
The 2025 ELA result of 68.4% sits comfortably above the district average of 62.8%, while math at 61.5% lands just slightly below the district's 62.8%. The trajectory has been a long climb — from under 20% in both subjects in 2016 to today's numbers — though not a smooth one, with notable dips in 2019 and again in 2023-24 before this year's surge. Grade-level results tell their own story: 4th graders are strong (76% ELA, 79% math), 3rd graders solid (75% ELA), but 5th graders drop to 54% ELA and 46% math, suggesting the upper-elementary transition is where momentum slips.
Culture
Parents clearly feel heard here — 95% report trust in teachers and 91% trust the principal — but teachers paint a divided picture, with only 38% trusting the principal despite rating instruction quality at 89% and safety at 89%. The discipline side is genuinely calm, the same zero-suspensions streak holding for three straight years. The harder truth is the attendance data: 88.8% attendance and 59.4% chronic absenteeism sit well below district averages, meaning many students are missing enough school to put their learning at risk even when teaching is strong.
Community
The student body is 62% Black, 22% Hispanic, and 10% Asian, with an economic need index of 78 — meaning most families are dealing with significant financial pressure. The surrounding Baisley Park neighborhood has a median household income of about $83,500 and a 20.5% college-degree rate, painting a picture of working- and middle-class households where higher education is the exception rather than the norm. About one in six neighborhood households include children, and most residents own their homes rather than rent.
Neighborhood
Baisley Park is a homeowner-heavy Queens neighborhood with a median home value near $550,000 and a poverty rate around 11%. Roughly 18% of households include children, and just over a fifth of adults hold a bachelor's degree, giving the area a working-class, family-oriented feel. The neighborhood skews toward car and bus commuting — there is no subway within walking distance — and most daily life happens at the block level rather than via transit.
The school is beyond walking distance of any subway station; families rely on buses, cars, or school transportation to get there.
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) · 131 families responded (51% 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. 140 Edward K Ellington 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. 140 Edward K Ellington a good school?
- On Motley, P.S. 140 Edward K Ellington earns an overall rating of 65/100 — 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 28 average.
- What grades does P.S. 140 Edward K Ellington serve?
- P.S. 140 Edward K Ellington serves grades K to 5.
- How do students get into P.S. 140 Edward K Ellington?
- P.S. 140 Edward K Ellington admits by zone — children who live in its attendance zone get a guaranteed seat.
- Is P.S. 140 Edward K Ellington public, charter, or private?
- P.S. 140 Edward K Ellington is a public school in NYC Community School District 28.
- What neighborhood is P.S. 140 Edward K Ellington in?
- P.S. 140 Edward K Ellington is in Baisley Park, Queens.