P.S. 8 Shirlee Solomon

This is one of the strongest academic showings in the district. ELA proficiency at 88.9% is roughly 28 points above the District 31 average of about 61%, and math proficiency at 95.5% towers over the district's 61%. The trend is the more striking part: scores have climbed nearly 20 points in both subjects since 2016, with math now approaching the ceiling. Grade 5 is essentially maxed out at 97.3% ELA and 100% math, while Grade 3 hits 93.2% and 98.4%. The overall score of 3.69 out of 4 reflects a school where students aren't just meeting standards — they're comfortably exceeding them.

Survey responses paint a remarkably unified picture: 100% of teachers rate the quality of instruction at the school positively, 100% say strong relationships exist, and parent satisfaction sits at 96%. Trust scores are uniformly high — parent-principal trust at 94%, teacher-principal trust at 98% — suggesting leadership has built genuine credibility on both sides of the building. Discipline data is essentially a non-issue, with zero suspensions recorded in each of the past three years. Attendance at 94.7% runs about three points above the district norm. One data point worth asking the school directly about: the reported chronic absenteeism figure of 87.5% looks unusually high given the strong attendance rate and survey data, and families may want to understand how that metric is being calculated or reported.

P.S. 8 reflects its neighborhood. About 60% of students are White and 22% Asian, with Hispanic families making up 14% — a demographic mix that closely tracks the surrounding census tract, where household incomes and homeownership rates run high. The diversity index of 59% indicates meaningful variety within that mix, but the school is far less racially varied than the NYC average. Twenty-two percent of students have IEPs, a slightly higher share than many neighborhood schools of this profile.

The Great Kills-Eltingville area is a solidly middle- and upper-middle-class residential neighborhood on Staten Island's South Shore, with a median household income near $120,000 and a homeownership rate over 80%. About a quarter of households include children, and roughly 40% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher. Poverty is low at under 7%, and the median home value sits around $640,000 — one of the more stable, owner-occupied corners of the borough. It's the kind of place where families put down roots and stay for decades.

The school is about a six-minute walk from the Great Kills Staten Island Railway stop and around 14 minutes from Eltingville on the SIR — most families in the zoned area drive or walk, with the SIR providing a transit option for those heading toward the ferry