Ps 198 Isador E Ida Straus, New York NY

Original Research by School Decision on Ps 198 Isador E Ida Straus

PS 198 Isador E Ida Straus is an elementary school on the Upper East Side serving pre-kindergarten through fifth grade. The school enrolls a modestly sized cohort drawn from a densely mixed neighborhood with substantial diversity in both race and household income.

The student body reflects the Upper East Side's economic and ethnic heterogeneity. About two in five students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. The enrollment is roughly evenly split among white, Hispanic, and Asian students, with smaller shares of Black and multiracial students. Data on English learners and students receiving special education services was not available.

PS 198's academic performance is strong across the tested grade levels. In third and fourth grade, proficiency in math runs high, with the vast majority of students meeting state proficiency. Fourth grade also shows solid reading performance. By fifth grade, both math and English language arts proficiency decline somewhat, though a substantial majority still reach proficiency in each. Fifth-grade science performance is noticeably weaker, sitting notably below the school's results in literacy and lower-grade math. State testing data for social studies is available only from years ago and was not included in this analysis. The school's overall proficiency index places it in the top quartile relative to other districts in New York County.

The school occupies a dense urban neighborhood with high walkability and extensive public transit access. The Upper East Side has experienced steady housing growth over recent years. Home values and rents in the area are high, reflecting the neighborhood's appeal and limited new supply relative to demand. A parent considering this school should be aware that housing costs in the surrounding area substantially exceed both state and national benchmarks.

New York City's Gifted & Talented admissions process recently underwent substantial change, moving from standardized testing to teacher nominations and lottery-based placement for kindergarten, and to a more open, luck-based system for entry into first grade and later. This shift has made gifted admissions more competitive across the city. For families interested in accelerated programming, this context is relevant to early enrollment decisions.

The school serves grades PK through 05 only, so it is an entry point in the city's K-12 system; families will need to navigate middle school admissions separately, which involves screened and unscreened options across District 2.

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Academic performance

How students perform on state tests, by grade, set against the district.

Math

Grade 389%

School 89% · District 81% · ▲ 8 pts above district

▲ 31 pts above state median · ▲ 31 pts above county median

Grade 489%

School 89% · District 79% · ▲ 10 pts above district

▲ 31 pts above state median · ▲ 29 pts above county median

Grade 577%

School 77% · District 78% · ▼ 2 pts below district

▲ 25 pts above state median · ▲ 21 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 385%

School 85% · District 80% · ▲ 6 pts above district

▲ 33 pts above state median · ▲ 29 pts above county median

Grade 489%

School 89% · District 78% · ▲ 11 pts above district

▲ 36 pts above state median · ▲ 26 pts above county median

Grade 580%

School 80% · District 81% · ▼ 1 pts below district

▲ 26 pts above state median · ▲ 15 pts above county median

Science

Grade 561%

School 61% · District 67% · ▼ 7 pts below district

▲ 19 pts above state median · ▲ 15 pts above county median

Social studies

Grade 565%

School 65% · district not reported

▼ 27 pts below state median · ▼ 14 pts below county median

This schoolNEW YORK CITY GEOGRAPHIC DISTRICT # 2, same grade

Graduation rate (ACGR) reflects the federally published Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate for the most recent year available. We refresh this data annually at the close of each academic year in June. The federal source publishes a banded rate (for example, "90-94%") instead of an exact number for cohorts small enough to risk identifying individual students. The state distribution chart, where shown, plots every school in the state with a published rate or band; schools whose rate is federally suppressed are excluded. Where the federal source publishes a band rather than an exact rate, the school is placed within its band using a stable, ID-derived offset, so its position is consistent across visits.

Proficiency by household income

English language arts

Grade 3Lower-income77%Higher-income89%13 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income88%Higher-income89%2 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income72%Higher-income85%13 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income79%Higher-income95%16 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income72%Higher-income96%24 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income61%Higher-income88%27 pp gap