At a Glance
A Lower East Side PK-8 where families feel heard, even as test scores trail the district
Best suited for
Families prioritizing strong parent-school relationships, integrated special education support, and a PreK-8 neighborhood option on the Lower East Side — especially those comfortable advocating for their child's academic growth within a school where state-test outcomes lag.
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
- Parent trust scores (92% with both teachers and principal) are notably high for a school with these academic results.
- 38% of students have IEPs, making this a strong fit for families seeking integrated special education services in a general-education setting.
- Math proficiency has nearly doubled since 2016, showing real instructional progress even if it still trails the district.
- Robust extracurricular catalog — yearbook, National Junior Honor Society, peer mediation, cheerleading, Urban Advantage science — for a school of just 340 students.
- Arts programming includes art, dance, and visual arts as named program categories.
Things to consider
- Overall proficiency is roughly half the District 1 average — this is a school where most students are below grade level on state tests.
- Chronic absenteeism at 29% means nearly a third of students miss enough school to be flagged; that affects everything from classroom continuity to social development.
- Grade 4 scores (5.3% ELA, 3.8% math) are a red flag — ask specifically about that cohort and the transition out of Grade 3.
- The suspension rate of 2% is roughly five times the district average, even though total incidents are small in number.
- Only 6.5% of neighborhood households have children — the local family population is thin, so the school likely draws from beyond a tight walkable radius.
Based on 2023-24 data
School SummaryDistrict 1
With an overall score of 1.07/4, this school sits at the bottom of District 1 compared to its listed peers — well below the district average of 1.98 and trailing even schools like P.S. 110 and The Children's Workshop School. It's not a district standout academically; it's a school working hard with a high-need population where strong family trust hasn't yet translated into proficiency gains.
Academics
Both ELA (25.9%) and math (27.7%) proficiency land well below District 1 averages of roughly 52% and 47%. Math has trended upward over the past decade — from 14.1% in 2016 to 27.7% in 2025 — while ELA has been bumpier, peaking at 35.1% in 2022 before sliding back. Scores vary wildly by grade: Grade 4 is alarmingly low (5.3% ELA, 3.8% math), while Grade 8 math hits 46.5%. That grade-level spread suggests very uneven instructional outcomes across the building.
Culture
Parent-teacher trust (92%) and parent-principal trust (92%) are strong — families clearly feel connected to the school. Teacher-reported instruction quality (88%) sits slightly above the district average. But attendance is a real concern: 81.5% overall with 29.1% chronic absenteeism, well above the district's 88.9% average. The suspension rate (2%) is higher than the district norm and has held steady around 7-10 incidents per year. Teacher-reported safety (86%) is a touch below the district's 90.9%, but the school survey responses from staff (88% instruction quality) suggest a functional professional environment.
Community
The student body is 72% Hispanic and 20% Black, with small Asian, White, and multiracial populations — a diversity index of 47%. The economic need index of 91.7% means almost every student qualifies as high-need, and 38% have IEPs, which is well above typical. The school mirrors the surrounding Lower East Side census profile: predominantly Hispanic, working-class, and rent-stabilized rather than homeowner-heavy. This is a school deeply embedded in its immigrant community.
Neighborhood
The Lower East Side around the school is a mixed-income, transit-rich neighborhood where median household income sits around $58,000 and nearly a quarter of residents live below the poverty line. Homeownership is low at 23%, and only 6.5% of households include children — meaning this school draws from a relatively small pool of local families. The area has a 44% bachelor's-degree attainment rate, reflecting the mix of long-time residents and newer arrivals.
The Delancey St-Essex St station (F, J, M, Z lines) is about a 5-minute walk, and the 2 Av F stop is about 9 minutes away — families have solid transit access from multiple directions.
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
Science Proficiency
Students scoring proficient or above on the NY State Science 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) · 98 families responded (31% rate)
Programs & Activities
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. 140 Nathan Straus 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. 140 Nathan Straus. 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.
Middle school (6th grade)
Middle school is one citywide application, made in 5th grade. P.S. 140 Nathan Straus admits through one program, and each one has its own admissions method:
- Nathan Straus Preparatory School (P.S. 140)Screened48 seats
Middle school application
- Opened
- Wed, Oct 14
- Closes
- Fri, Dec 11
- Offers
- Wed, Apr 7
The DOE’s published dates.
- 1Apply on MySchools during the middle school application, in 5th grade.
- 2Screened programs rank 4th-grade course grades, so last year's report card is the one that counts.
- 3Rank programs in true preference order — the match places your child in the highest-ranked one that offers a seat.
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 Nathan Straus a good school?
- On Motley, P.S. 140 Nathan Straus 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 1 average.
- What grades does P.S. 140 Nathan Straus serve?
- P.S. 140 Nathan Straus serves grades Pre-K to 8.
- How do students get into P.S. 140 Nathan Straus?
- P.S. 140 Nathan Straus is a screened school — it admits by application, ranking applicants on their course grades (4th grade for middle school, the 7th-grade core-course average for high school); a few schools add an assessment, writing sample, or interview.
- Is P.S. 140 Nathan Straus public, charter, or private?
- P.S. 140 Nathan Straus is a public school in NYC Community School District 1.
- What neighborhood is P.S. 140 Nathan Straus in?
- P.S. 140 Nathan Straus is in Lower East Side, Manhattan.