At a Glance
A high-flying zoned elementary on the Upper West Side where nearly every student meets grade-level standards in reading and math.
Best suited for
Families living in the school's zone who want a high-performing neighborhood elementary without the commute or lottery stress of a screened program — and who value a low-poverty, parent-engaged environment.
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
- Proficiency rates above 90% in both ELA and math — among the strongest results for any zoned elementary in Manhattan.
- Zero suspensions for three consecutive years, paired with a 97% teacher-reported safety rate.
- Strong parent satisfaction (94%) and parent-teacher trust (91%), signaling a cohesive family community.
- Arts and technology identity embedded in the school's name, set in a neighborhood that tends to value enrichment programming.
- Three subway lines within a 7-minute walk, making commutes from across the borough realistic.
Things to consider
- Chronic absenteeism sits at 81.7% — high even in a post-pandemic context — and may reflect how easily affluent families can pull kids out for travel.
- The teacher-principal trust score of 55% is notably lower than parent-principal trust (70%), a gap worth probing if you value staff morale.
- Only 18 teachers completed the climate survey — a small sample that makes staff-level findings harder to generalize.
- As a zoned school with strong results, P.S. 166 is unlikely to offer the same enrichment resources or selectivity that District 3's gifted programs (Anderson, Special Music) provide.
- The student body skews less racially and economically diverse than the city overall, which may or may not match what you're looking for.
Based on 2024-25 data
School SummaryDistrict 3
P.S. 166 is one of the top zoned schools in District 3, trailing only the district's specialized and charter options (Anderson, Special Music, Success Academy charters) on overall score. Among traditional zoned neighborhood schools in the district, it's a clear standout.
Academics
P.S. 166's 91.9% ELA and 92.4% math proficiency rates dwarf the district averages of 59.3% and 54.0% — students here aren't catching up, they're setting the pace. Scores have climbed steadily from the mid-70s in 2016 to the low 90s today, a sustained improvement that suggests real instructional gains rather than a one-year spike. Performance is consistent across grades 3-5, with no weak link in the tested cohort.
Culture
Day-to-day, the school feels stable and safe — 97% of teachers report feeling safe, and there have been zero suspensions for three straight years. Parents are highly satisfied (94%) and trust their children's teachers (91%), though trust in the principal drops to 70% among families and just 55% among teachers, suggesting some friction between staff and leadership that doesn't seem to have reached the parent body. Attendance is solid at 94.1% (above the district average), but the chronic absenteeism rate of 81.7% is striking — and notably, white and Asian students show much higher absenteeism (87%+) than Black and Hispanic peers, an unusual inversion that may reflect family travel patterns common in well-off communities.
Community
The student body is majority white (54%) with significant Asian (16%), Hispanic (14%), and multiracial (11%) populations, and only 4% Black — a reflection of the Upper West Side's demographics more than a sampling of NYC broadly. With an economic need index of just 18.9 (compared to a city average near 60), this is a low-poverty school serving a low-poverty neighborhood. The 11% IEP rate is moderate and in line with city norms, suggesting a full range of learners is included.
Neighborhood
The Upper West Side around this school is one of Manhattan's wealthiest enclaves, with a median household income over $150,000 and a poverty rate under 10%. Most adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and while home values top $1.5 million, only 38% of households own — the rest rent in one of the city's most competitive residential markets. Families with children make up 17% of households, a smaller share than in many outer-borough neighborhoods but a meaningful presence here.
The school is exceptionally well-connected: 86 St on the 1 line is about a 4-minute walk, 86 St on the C and B is roughly 6 minutes, and 96 St on the 1, 2, 3 is about 7 minutes away.
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) · 172 families responded (30% 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. 166 The Richard Rodgers School of The Arts and Technology 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. 166 The Richard Rodgers School of The Arts and Technology a good school?
- On Motley, P.S. 166 The Richard Rodgers School of The Arts and Technology earns an overall rating of 92/100 — 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 above the District 3 average.
- What grades does P.S. 166 The Richard Rodgers School of The Arts and Technology serve?
- P.S. 166 The Richard Rodgers School of The Arts and Technology serves grades K to 5.
- How do students get into P.S. 166 The Richard Rodgers School of The Arts and Technology?
- P.S. 166 The Richard Rodgers School of The Arts and Technology admits by zone — children who live in its attendance zone get a guaranteed seat.
- Is P.S. 166 The Richard Rodgers School of The Arts and Technology public, charter, or private?
- P.S. 166 The Richard Rodgers School of The Arts and Technology is a public school in NYC Community School District 3.
- What neighborhood is P.S. 166 The Richard Rodgers School of The Arts and Technology in?
- P.S. 166 The Richard Rodgers School of The Arts and Technology is in Upper West Side (Central), Manhattan.