PS280Q: Home of the Lionhearts

At 38.8% ELA proficiency and 48.7% math proficiency, students are catching up rather than leading — the district averages sit around 61% and 62% respectively. The trajectory has been bumpy: ELA peaked at 45% in 2019, dipped as low as 26.7% in 2024, and recovered to 38.8% in 2025; math has held steadier, generally in the 40s and 50s. The 5th-grade ELA rate (49.3%) noticeably outpaces 3rd and 4th grade (32-35%), which suggests students do gain ground as they move through the school.

Parent-teacher trust at 98% and parent-principal trust at 98% are the headline numbers here — extraordinarily high for any school, let alone one facing academic headwinds — and the 75% family survey response rate shows families are engaged enough to weigh in. The day-to-day feel is calm: zero suspensions across three years points to a restorative approach. But chronic absenteeism at 77.7% means more than three-quarters of students miss 10% or more of school days, a serious structural challenge that's likely capping academic gains. Teacher-reported safety (86%) and teacher-rated instruction quality (86%) both run below district norms of roughly 95% and 91%.

The student body is 91% Hispanic and 6% Asian, with a diversity index of just 22% — one of the more homogeneous elementary populations in the borough. An economic need index of 76.6 confirms most families arrive at the school's doors with limited resources, and 14% of students have IEPs. The school mirrors its surrounding Jackson Heights community closely — this is a neighborhood school in the truest sense, with the student population reflecting the immigrant, working-class character of the blocks around it.

Jackson Heights is a densely settled, working- and middle-class neighborhood in northwestern Queens with deep immigrant roots — a third of adults hold a bachelor's degree, and nearly 40% of households own their homes despite a median home value around $549,000. Median household income sits near $72,762 with a 13.7% poverty rate, and families with children make up 17.4% of households. The 7 train runs through the neighborhood and ties it to the rest of Queens and Manhattan.

The 7 train serves the area from 90 St-Elmhurst Av (about an 8-minute walk), Junction Blvd (about an 8-minute walk), and 82 St-Jackson Hts (about a 13-minute walk).