Ps 171 Patrick Henry, New York NY

Original Research by School Decision on Ps 171 Patrick Henry

PS 171 sits on East 103rd Street in East Harlem, part of the largely Latino neighborhood between the East and Harlem Rivers. The school is a mix of pre-K through eighth grade, serving a student population that is majority Hispanic with substantial Black and Asian representation. Most students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting the economic reality of the neighborhood. The school sits embedded in the urban fabric, not on a separated campus, and is accessible by the extensive subway and bus network that anchors daily life across the city.

In mathematics, PS 171 shows strong proficiency from third grade through eighth grade. Third and fourth graders showed complete proficiency on state tests, while fifth graders reached close to nine in ten. Sixth and eighth grade performance held at the mid-to-high 90s. Seventh grade dipped slightly to the high 80s. In English language arts, third grade again showed complete proficiency, fourth grade high 90s, and fifth through eighth grades stayed in the mid-to-high 80s and low 90s. The school's overall reading and math results place it well above the median for districts in the county.

Science presents a different picture. Fifth grade science proficiency stood at fifty percent, while eighth grade reached sixty-five percent. These are meaningful gaps compared to the ELA and math performance, and a parent may want to look into this further with the school to understand whether science instruction is getting the time and resources allocated to the literacy and math efforts, or whether other factors are at play. Social studies data is older and not comparable to current year results.

The school has been part of the NYC Reads mandate, a citywide shift to phonics-based reading instruction that District 4 (East Harlem) implemented in the 2024-25 school year. This means every student in early grades is now using a structured phonics curriculum rather than the prior balanced literacy model. For middle school, the district falls into the later phase of NYC Solves, the city's new standardized math curriculum rollout; District 4 middle schools will adopt uniform, problem-based math instruction starting in 2026-27, ending the prior school-by-school variation.

Enrollment is stable at a mid-sized level for a K-8 school, with roughly equal cohorts across grades. The pre-K cohort is smaller than K-2, and sixth through eighth grades are somewhat larger, which is typical of how schools expand as younger grades feed upward. Participation rates in state testing vary, ranging from about forty-six percent in fifth grade science (which may reflect absence or opt-out) to eighty-eight percent in seventh grade ELA.

The neighborhood housing market is expensive relative to national benchmarks but slightly below the state median. Median rent has been rising and median home values, while down slightly year-over-year, remain high by most standards. The district is part of the larger East Harlem community, which sits within the dense, mixed-use character of Manhattan, with subway access, street-level commerce, and residential life integrated throughout. Major employers in the city center on finance, tech, and professional services, though many families in this school likely work in hospitality, healthcare, education, and service sectors.

For a family considering PS 171, the school's math and ELA results signal solid grade-to-grade progress and proficiency rates that exceed the county middle ground. The gap in science is worth understanding before enrollment. The curriculum mandates now in place mean families can expect a phonics-focused early literacy experience and, soon, a standardized math approach across the district. The urban location and transit access are built in. The student body is economically and racially diverse, and the vast majority of students are New York City residents navigating public school choice and admissions alongside their peers.

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Academic performance

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

New York Regents Exams

2 courses reported · 2024-25

End-of-course exams required for a New York Regents diploma. Each row shows the cohort size and the share of students scoring at the proficient level or higher.

Course	Students tested	% proficient
Math	27	100.0%
Science	26	85.0%

Math

Grade 3100%

School 100% · District 46% · ▲ 54 pts above district

▲ 41 pts above state median · ▲ 42 pts above county median

Grade 4100%

School 100% · District 49% · ▲ 51 pts above district

▲ 42 pts above state median · ▲ 39 pts above county median

Grade 590%

School 90% · District 44% · ▲ 46 pts above district

▲ 39 pts above state median · ▲ 34 pts above county median

Grade 697%

School 97% · District 45% · ▲ 52 pts above district

▲ 52 pts above state median · ▲ 52 pts above county median

Grade 788%

School 88% · District 45% · ▲ 42 pts above district

▲ 35 pts above state median · ▲ 30 pts above county median

Grade 895%

School 95% · District 38% · ▲ 57 pts above district

▲ 58 pts above state median · ▲ 95 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 3100%

School 100% · District 44% · ▲ 56 pts above district

▲ 48 pts above state median · ▲ 44 pts above county median

Grade 492%

School 92% · District 52% · ▲ 40 pts above district

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

Grade 587%

School 87% · District 52% · ▲ 35 pts above district

▲ 32 pts above state median · ▲ 22 pts above county median

Grade 687%

School 87% · District 46% · ▲ 41 pts above district

▲ 41 pts above state median · ▲ 40 pts above county median

Grade 785%

School 85% · District 50% · ▲ 35 pts above district

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

Grade 894%

School 94% · District 48% · ▲ 46 pts above district

▲ 46 pts above state median · ▲ 41 pts above county median

Science

Grade 550%

School 50% · District 37% · ▲ 13 pts above district

▲ 8 pts above state median · ▲ 4 pts above county median

Grade 865%

School 65% · District 30% · ▲ 35 pts above district

▲ 32 pts above state median · ▲ 57 pts above county median

Social studies

Grade 598%

School 98% · district not reported

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

Grade 862%

School 62% · district not reported

▼ 16 pts below state median · ▲ 8 pts above county median

This schoolNEW YORK CITY GEOGRAPHIC DISTRICT # 4, 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-income100%Higher-income100%0 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income92%Higher-income92%0 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income82%Higher-income94%12 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income88%Higher-income82%6 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income82%Higher-income94%13 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income98%Higher-income81%17 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income100%Higher-income100%0 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income100%Higher-income100%0 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income91%Higher-income88%4 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income96%Higher-income100%4 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income83%Higher-income100%17 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income96%Higher-income92%3 pp gap