At a Glance
A mid-sized zoned elementary on the Upper East Side where parent investment runs high and 2025 test scores just hit a decade peak.
Best suited for
Families zoned for the Upper East Side who want a mid-sized, well-resourced elementary with strong parent engagement, genuine diversity, and a recent upward academic trajectory.
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
- 2025 test scores hit the school's highest point in nearly a decade, with math climbing to 75.6% proficiency.
- Zero suspensions in each of the past three reported years — a consistent, non-removal-based discipline approach.
- PTA fundraising of $1,013 per student is nearly double the district average, giving the school real discretionary resources.
- 100% of teachers report strong relationships and feel safe at school, and parent-teacher trust is at 98%.
- A 76% diversity index in a neighborhood often stereotyped as homogeneous — the student body is genuinely mixed.
Things to consider
- The 78% chronic absenteeism figure is unusually high and conflicts with the otherwise strong 92.6% attendance rate — worth asking the school directly what it means for your child's year.
- The 2025 academic jump is a single year; one strong data point isn't yet a sustained trend.
- Average class size (25.8) is right at the district norm — this isn't a small-class-size school.
- The surrounding neighborhood skews affluent; the school draws a more economically mixed body than its zip code suggests, which is a strength but also a real demographic gap between school and street.
- Being a zoned school, your eligibility depends on your address in a tight Manhattan zone — worth confirming before falling in love with the data.
Based on 2024-25 data
School SummaryDistrict 2
In District 2, one of Manhattan's stronger elementary districts, Yorkville Community School sits slightly above the district average overall (2.95 vs 2.91) but well behind the selective and lab schools like Lower Lab (99/100) and Manhattan New School (95/100). Among mainstream zoned options, it competes comfortably with P.S. 183 and P.S. 89 — solid without being a crown jewel.
Academics
Math proficiency (75.6%) sits comfortably above the district average of 72.5%, while ELA (72.1%) is essentially at the district average (73.2%). The bigger story is the trajectory: scores climbed from the mid-60s in 2023-24 to mid-70s in 2025, the school's strongest showing in the data shown. Fifth graders are the standout cohort (76.7% ELA, 79.1% math), with Grade 4 math also strong at 76.2%. One year of a jump doesn't make a trend, but the direction is clearly upward after a long plateau in the low-to-mid 60s.
Culture
The survey picture is strikingly positive: 100% of teachers report strong relationships and feel safe, parent-teacher trust is 98%, and parent satisfaction sits at 96% — well above the district's 92%. Zero suspensions across three consecutive years signals an approach that handles behavior without removal. The one figure parents should ask about is the chronic absenteeism rate (78%) — it sits oddly against the 92.6% attendance rate, which is itself slightly above district average, and is worth understanding directly from the school. Day-to-day, this reads as a calm, well-trusted community where families feel heard and teachers feel supported.
Community
Yorkville Community School draws a notably diverse student body: 47% white, 24% Hispanic, 13% Black, 10% Asian, and 6% multiracial, with a 76% diversity index. The economic need index of 37.1% is moderate — the school serves a broader economic mix than its surrounding neighborhood might suggest. About one in five students has an IEP. PTA fundraising of $1,013 per student is nearly double the district average of $517, a meaningful resource advantage that shows up in programming and materials.
Neighborhood
Yorkville on the Upper East Side is one of Manhattan's more affluent and family-oriented residential pockets, with a median household income around $137,000 and 77% of adults holding a bachelor's degree. The poverty rate is low (under 8%), though only about 13% of households have children — typical of Manhattan, where most blocks are adult-dominated. The school sits in a neighborhood where most families live in higher-density apartments rather than owned homes, with homeownership under 30% and median home values around $1.2 million.
Three subway options serve the school: the Q at 86 St (about a 5-minute walk), the Q at 96 St (about a 9-minute walk), and the 4/5/6 at 86 St (about a 10-minute walk).
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) · 167 families responded (54% 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
Yorkville Community School 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
Yorkville Community School 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 Yorkville Community School a good school?
- On Motley, Yorkville Community School 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 2 average.
- What grades does Yorkville Community School serve?
- Yorkville Community School serves grades Pre-K to 5.
- How do students get into Yorkville Community School?
- Yorkville Community School admits by zone — children who live in its attendance zone get a guaranteed seat.
- Is Yorkville Community School public, charter, or private?
- Yorkville Community School is a public school in NYC Community School District 2.
- What neighborhood is Yorkville Community School in?
- Yorkville Community School is in Upper East Side-Yorkville, Manhattan.