At a Glance
An Auburndale neighborhood school where parent trust and a calm climate outshine its middling test scores
Best suited for
Families who value a calm, relationship-driven school with deeply engaged parents and a stable, homeowner neighborhood, and who can handle a car commute to Auburndale.
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
- Zero suspensions in three consecutive years — a genuinely rare climate signal
- 100% of teachers report strong relationships with colleagues and families
- Parent-principal trust at 95% is among the strongest in the district
- Asian-American families make up the clear majority of the student body at 63%
- PTA fundraising slightly outpaces the district average per student
Things to consider
- ELA and math proficiency both sit below district averages, with the gap larger in ELA
- Grade 3 results are notably weaker than Grades 4 and 5 — worth asking how the school handles the third-grade transition
- The school's overall 2.97/4 score trails most named peer schools in District 26, several of which score 90+
- No subway access means a car or bus commute for almost every family
- Teacher instruction quality (88%) is just below the district average, so the classroom experience may vary more than the survey numbers suggest
Based on 2024-25 data
School SummaryDistrict 26
Within District 26 — one of the strongest elementary districts in the city — P.S. 159 lands below the district average on the 1-4 scale (2.97 vs. 3.12) and trails its named peers like P.S. 98 Douglaston and P.S. 94 David D. Porter. Its standout strength is climate: parent trust and a suspension-free record are assets that don't always show up in the rating.
Academics
ELA proficiency at 71.5% is roughly four points below the district average of 75.8%, and math at 76.9% is about three points below the district's 80.2%. Scores have bounced around since 2016 without a clear upward trajectory — ELA peaked at 75.9% in 2019 and again in 2023, while math peaked at 83.6% in 2023 before easing back. The Grade 3 cohort is the weak link, with 61.6% ELA and 71.7% math proficiency, while Grade 4 stands out with 85.5% math proficiency.
Culture
The school runs on trust: 100% of teachers report strong relationships, parent-principal trust is 95%, and parent-teacher trust is 97%. Teacher-reported safety (97%) and parent satisfaction (92%) are right in line with district norms, and teacher instruction quality (88%) is close to the district average of 89.9%. Attendance is a quiet bright spot at 95.3%, above the district's 94.4%, and the zero suspensions over three consecutive years is genuinely unusual — kids here are not getting sent home. Day-to-day, this reads as a calm, relationship-driven environment where families feel heard and discipline is essentially a non-issue.
Community
Six in ten students identify as Asian, with the rest split between White (19%), Hispanic (16%), and small Black, multiracial, and Native American shares — a diversity index of 56%. Sixteen percent of students have IEPs, and the economic need index sits at 42%, reflecting a working- and middle-class mix rather than a high-poverty population. PTA fundraising came in at about $103 per student, slightly above the district average of $96, signaling an engaged parent base that contributes to the school's extras.
Neighborhood
Auburndale is a settled, middle-class neighborhood of eastern Queens with a median household income of $87,050, a poverty rate of just 8.7%, and a homeownership rate of 67.3% — well above the citywide norm. About one in five households include children, and 38% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, with a median home value near $915,000. It's the kind of place where families put down roots rather than pass through.
There are no subway stations within a 20-minute walk of the school, so most families get here by driving, being dropped off, or taking a local bus.
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) · 285 families responded (58% rate)
Racial & Ethnic Diversity
NYC DOE InfoHub · 2022-23
PTA Fundraising
Source: DOE Local Law 171 disclosure
Discipline
NYSED Student & Educator Database (2023-24)
Economic Need & Special Populations
How to get in, step by step
Pre-K
P.S. 159 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
P.S. 159 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. 159 a good school?
- On Motley, P.S. 159 earns an overall rating of 74/100 — 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 26 average.
- What grades does P.S. 159 serve?
- P.S. 159 serves grades Pre-K to 5.
- How do students get into P.S. 159?
- P.S. 159 admits by zone — children who live in its attendance zone get a guaranteed seat.
- Is P.S. 159 public, charter, or private?
- P.S. 159 is a public school in NYC Community School District 26.
- What neighborhood is P.S. 159 in?
- P.S. 159 is in Auburndale, Queens.