P.S. 153 Helen Keller

P.S. 153's 2025 results are a meaningful step up. At 73% ELA and 75.3% math proficiency, the school sits roughly 16 points above the district averages of 56.7% and 55.6% respectively, and the overall quality score of 2.97/4 is well ahead of the District 11 average of 2.25. Scores are strong across tested grades — third-graders hit 83.3% in math, fifth-graders 78.5% in ELA. The honest caveat: the school has bounced around considerably over the past decade (ELA ranged from 51% to 73% across recent years), so this jump is dramatic and worth watching to see if it holds. That said, the 2025 gains are broad-based rather than concentrated in a single grade, which is a good sign.

Parents and the school appear to have a warm, trusting relationship — parent satisfaction is 94%, parent-teacher trust 97%, parent-principal trust 96%, and 'strong relationships' is reported at 100%. The discipline picture is clean: zero suspensions over three consecutive years. But the teacher side of the climate survey tells a more complicated story. Only 75% of teachers rate instruction quality as strong (versus a district average of 92%), teacher-principal trust is 59%, and teacher-reported safety sits at 89% compared with a district average of 95%. Chronic absenteeism is high at 77.7%, meaning more than three-quarters of students missed enough school to be flagged — that is a real headwind against the strong academic results. Attendance rate itself (93%) is fine; the issue is concentrated absences among a large share of kids.

The 457-student body is majority Black (57%) with substantial Hispanic (23%) and Asian (14%) enrollment, reflecting Co-op City's mix. About 14% of students have IEPs and the economic need index is 67.8, indicating a largely working-class population. PTA fundraising of about $64 per student is nearly three times the district average — a clear signal of organized, invested parents supplementing what the school budget provides.

Co-op City is one of the largest cooperative housing developments in the country, and that shapes the school's feeder population. The surrounding area has a median household income of $58,565, a poverty rate of 10.9%, and about a quarter of adult residents hold a bachelor's degree. Homeownership is 44% and the median home value is low, consistent with the co-op ownership structure. Households with children make up roughly 12% of the area.

Three 5-train stops serve the school: Baychester Av is about a 10-minute walk, Gun Hill Rd about 17 minutes, and Eastchester-Dyre Av about 20 minutes. Bus connections also run through the area.