At a Glance
A screened South Harlem elementary on a clear upswing, where families feel heard and test scores are catching up fast.
Best suited for
Families who want to be part of a school with a clear upward trajectory and unusually strong family-school trust, and who are comfortable with screened admissions and a still-developing academic record.
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
- One of the sharpest upward test-score trajectories in the area — proficiency has roughly doubled since 2022.
- 100% of teachers report feeling safe on campus, the highest possible mark.
- 98% parent-principal trust and 95% parent satisfaction, both well above district norms.
- Suspensions dropped from five to one in a single year, signaling a calmer disciplinary climate.
- A surprisingly rich extracurricular menu — chess, debate, forensics, STEM, yearbook, book club — despite modest PTA fundraising.
Things to consider
- Test scores are still meaningfully below the District 3 average, especially in math.
- Chronic absenteeism at 47.6% is high and may signal family instability, housing churn, or health-related patterns worth asking about.
- PTA fundraising runs about $42 per student versus the district's $627 — the school gets less supplemental money from families than most peers.
- 22% of students have IEPs, so families seeking a school with strong special-education capacity should ask specifically about service models.
- Screened admissions mean a competitive application process; families should plan accordingly.
Based on 2024-25 data
School SummaryDistrict 3
District 3 includes some of the city's most competitive screened schools — Special Music, Anderson, and P.S. 166 — and P.S. 180 sits well below those standouts on the overall score. It is, however, a typical screened elementary that's trending up at a time when many peers are flat, which makes it worth a closer look.
Academics
ELA proficiency at 45.5% runs about 14 points below the District 3 average of 59.3%, and math at 31.2% trails the district's 54% by an even wider margin. But the trend line tells a different story than the snapshot: ELA has climbed from 23.1% in 2022 to 45.5% in 2025, and math from 16.5% to the low 30s — essentially a doubling in three years. Upper-grade performance (Grade 4 and 5 ELA at 53–58%) is meaningfully stronger than the school-wide average suggests, hinting that the building is gaining traction as students move through it.
Culture
The day-to-day feel inside P.S. 180 reads as warm and trusting in a way the test scores don't capture. Parent satisfaction (95%), parent-teacher trust (98%), and parent-principal trust (98%) all sit well above the district averages, and 100% of teachers report feeling safe — the highest possible mark. Discipline has improved sharply: suspensions fell from five in 2022-23 to just one in 2023-24. The one real concern is attendance — the 85.9% rate is below the district's 90.4%, and chronic absenteeism at 47.6% means nearly half of students are missing enough school to be flagged.
Community
About 400 students attend P.S. 180, with a student body that's 49% Black, 31% Hispanic, 14% White, and 3% Asian — a mix that reflects South Harlem's blend of long-standing and newer residents. The economic need index of 74.3% signals a working- and middle-class population, and 22% of students have IEPs, a meaningful share that shapes the classroom mix. Around the school, half of neighborhood adults hold a bachelor's degree, but only 12% of households include children and homeownership is low — a sign that many families are renters who may move in and out of the zone.
Neighborhood
South Harlem around P.S. 180 is a mixed-income, highly educated neighborhood where more than half of adults hold a bachelor's degree but the poverty rate sits near one in five. Households with children are relatively scarce, and most residents rent rather than own, reflecting the area's shift over the past decade. The school draws from a population that's racially and economically varied, with a notable mix of longtime Harlem families and newer arrivals.
The school is unusually well-served by transit: the 116 St (C, B) station is about a four-minute walk, 125 St (A, C, B, D) is around seven minutes, and Cathedral Pkwy–110 St (C, B) is roughly ten 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) · 63 families responded (19% rate)
Programs & Activities
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. 180 Hugo Newman 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. 180 Hugo Newman 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. 180 Hugo Newman a good school?
- On Motley, P.S. 180 Hugo Newman earns an overall rating of 38/100 — 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 3 average.
- What grades does P.S. 180 Hugo Newman serve?
- P.S. 180 Hugo Newman serves grades Pre-K to 5.
- How do students get into P.S. 180 Hugo Newman?
- P.S. 180 Hugo Newman 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. 180 Hugo Newman public, charter, or private?
- P.S. 180 Hugo Newman is a public school in NYC Community School District 3.
- What neighborhood is P.S. 180 Hugo Newman in?
- P.S. 180 Hugo Newman is in Harlem (South), Manhattan.