P.S. 153 Adam Clayton Powell

Math proficiency at 41.8% sits about 10 points below the District 6 average of 52.1%, and ELA at 24% is roughly half the district average of 47% — a significant gap in both subjects. The good news is that math has fully recovered to its 2019 level after a steep pandemic-era collapse to 16.5% in 2022, which is real progress. ELA, however, has not bounced back the same way: it dropped from 40.4% in 2019 and has hovered in the low 20s since, with fifth graders particularly behind at just 16.2% proficient.

Here's the central paradox of P.S. 153: families report near-universal trust in teachers and leadership — 95% parent-teacher trust, 97% teacher-principal trust, 96% on relationships — and teacher-reported safety hits 96%, yet 62% of students are chronically absent, one of the highest rates you'll see in District 6. Zero suspensions across three consecutive years and 93% parent satisfaction suggest the building itself runs warm and orderly; the chronic absenteeism is more likely a reflection of post-pandemic community patterns and family circumstances than something happening inside the school walls. Attendance at 89.3% also trails the district average of 91.1%, reinforcing that getting kids to school every day is the climate story worth watching.

The student body is 73% Hispanic and 17% Black, mirroring the immigrant and African-American families who have long shaped Hamilton Heights-Sugar Hill. With an economic need index of 86.7%, most students come from low-income households, and 17% have IEPs — both figures that reflect the working-class reality of the surrounding blocks. PTA fundraising at $49 per student sits just below the district average of $52, modest but not unusual for a school serving this population.

Hamilton Heights-Sugar Hill is a working- and middle-class renter neighborhood on upper Manhattan's western edge, where homeownership sits at just 14% and median household income is around $65,600. About a quarter of residents live below the poverty line, roughly 13% of households have children at home, and 41% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher. It's a place where families navigate by transit and where the mix of long-time locals and newer immigrant arrivals gives the blocks a layered, multigenerational feel.

Three 145 St stations sit within easy walking distance — the 1 train about 3 minutes away, and the B/D and A/C lines each about 5 minutes — making this one of the better-connected elementary school commutes in the district.