NYC's Top K-8 Schools Are Best In State, US News Finds

NEW YORK CITY — New York City has more than 1,220 elementary and middle schools ranked among the best in the country. Of them, institutions in both categories topped the list in New York State.

The ranking, the first produced by U.S. News & World Report, includes data on more than 80,000 public elementary and middle schools across the United States. Charter schools and magnet schools were not included.

U.S. News ranked Astoria's Mamie Fay Middle School as the best in the state. The Lower East Side's New Explorations Into Science, Technology and Math High School, which actually includes grades from kindergarten, was named the state's best elementary school.

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Here’s a look at how the top 10 city schools in each category ranked compared with others in the state:

Elementary schools:

1. New Explorations Into Science, Technology and Math High School: state rank 1
2. PS 77 Lower Lab School: state rank 2
3. Tag Young Scholars: state rank 3
4. The Academy for Excellence Through the Arts: state rank 4
5. 30th Avenue School: state rank 5
6. The Anderson School: state rank 6
7. PS 196 Grand Central Parkway: state rank 7
8. Spruce Street School state rank 8
9. East Side Elementary School-PS 267: state rank 14
10. PS 172 Beacon School of Excellence: state rank 15

Middle schools:

1. PS 122 Mamie Fay: state rank 1
2. IS 187 Christa Mcauliffe School: state rank 2
3. Baccalaureate School for Global Education: state rank 3
4. East Side Middle School: state rank 4
5. New Explorations Into Sciencetech and Math High School: state rank 5
6. Brooklyn School of Inquiry: state rank 6
7. 30th Avenue School: state rank 7
8. MS 255 Salk School of Science: state rank 8
9. IS 98 Bay Academy: state rank 9
10. NYC Lab Middle School for Collaborative Studies: state rank 10

To determine the rankings, U.S. News used data from the U.S. Department of Education to analyze two areas at each school:

• Math and reading proficiency — or how well students perform on state assessments.
• Math and reading performance — or how well they perform compared with expectations.

The state assessment data used in the rankings is from the 2018-19 school year and, therefore, predates any effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on test-taking.

Nationally, California has 5,534 ranked elementary schools — the most of any state — followed by Texas at 4,446; New York at 2,211; Florida at 2,128; and Illinois at 2,038 schools.

California also has the most ranked middle schools with 2,319, followed by Texas at 1,942; Illinois at 1,243; New York at 1,219; and Florida at 997.

See the complete list of 2021’s Best K-8 Schools.

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