Ps/ms 280 Mosholu Parkway, Bronx NY

Original Research by School Decision on Ps/ms 280 Mosholu Parkway

PS/MS 280 Mosholu Parkway is a kindergarten-through-eighth-grade school in the Bronx serving a student body that is overwhelmingly Hispanic, with substantial shares of Black and Asian students and very limited white enrollment. Nearly all students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. The school sits in the northern Bronx, in an area experiencing considerable new housing development and affordable housing construction, particularly around waterfront sites and transit nodes.

The school's academic performance, measured by state assessments in math, English language arts, and science, is mixed. In math, proficiency rates hover around the middle across the elementary and middle grades, with seventh grade showing slightly stronger results and fifth grade notably lower. In English language arts, performance is somewhat stronger in the upper middle grades, particularly seventh grade where just over half the students reached proficiency, but weaker in the lower grades. Science proficiency is particularly low, with only around one in five fifth graders and one in four eighth graders reaching proficiency. When these results are considered alongside state testing results from other schools in Bronx County, PS/MS 280's overall proficiency index places it in the top quartile of the district's schools, suggesting that while absolute performance numbers are below state targets, the school is performing comparatively well within its immediate peer group.

The school has a relatively small enrollment for its grade span, with about that size across the kindergarten-through-eighth spectrum. This enrollment has been stable, with representation across all grades and a notably larger sixth and eighth grade. Participation rates on state assessments are high and consistent, ranging from the mid-nineties to one hundred percent, indicating that testing data reflects the school's actual student population.

The immediate neighborhood, and the Bronx more broadly, has seen substantial public and private investment in affordable housing. Multiple large projects with deep affordability commitments are under construction or planned within the borough. The housing market has grown in value and rental costs have risen notably year over year. Health care, anchored by the Montefiore Medical Center, is a major employer in the area. The Bronx has been described as a patchwork of distinct neighborhoods, some with suburban character and single-family homes, others with dense apartments and mixed-use corridors lined with shops, markets, and restaurants. Walkability varies by neighborhood; some areas, such as Fordham Heights, score very high on walkability measures.

District 10, the school's parent district, implemented the city's new phonics-based reading curriculum requirement in the 2024-25 school year, replacing prior school-level choices. The district has experienced enrollment decline over the past several years and carries excess seat capacity. Middle school applications are no longer bound by district boundaries as of fall 2024, meaning families can apply to any middle school in the city, though district students retain priority. The broader city also reinstated academic screening for selective high school admissions, grouping students into tiers based on seventh-grade grades, a structural change that will affect how students at PS/MS 280 compete for seats at screened schools.

Parents may want to look further into the school's support for science instruction, given the low proficiency rates in that subject. The data provided does not include information about the school's programs, clubs, special education services, English learner supports, class sizes, staff stability, or the specific approach the school is taking to the new reading curriculum mandate.

See more original research from School Decision →

Academic performance

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

New York Regents Exams

1 course 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	22	73.0%

Math

Grade 350%

School 50% · District 46% · ▲ 4 pts above district

▼ 9 pts below state median · ▼ 8 pts below county median

Grade 449%

School 49% · District 45% · ▲ 4 pts above district

▼ 9 pts below state median · ▼ 4 pts below county median

Grade 529%

School 29% · District 41% · ▼ 12 pts below district

▼ 22 pts below state median · ▼ 17 pts below county median

Grade 641%

School 41% · District 34% · ▲ 7 pts above district

▼ 3 pts below state median · ▲ 1 pts above county median

Grade 752%

School 52% · District 42% · ▲ 9 pts above district

▼ 1 pts below state median · ▲ 3 pts above county median

Grade 846%

School 46% · District 38% · ▲ 8 pts above district

▲ 9 pts above state median · ▲ 9 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 340%

School 40% · District 43% · ▼ 4 pts below district

▼ 12 pts below state median · ▼ 9 pts below county median

Grade 446%

School 46% · District 44% · ▲ 3 pts above district

▼ 6 pts below state median · ▼ 4 pts below county median

Grade 536%

School 36% · District 47% · ▼ 12 pts below district

▼ 19 pts below state median · ▼ 17 pts below county median

Grade 640%

School 40% · District 39%

▼ 6 pts below state median · ▼ 1 pts below county median

Grade 755%

School 55% · District 43% · ▲ 13 pts above district

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

Grade 849%

School 49% · District 45% · ▲ 5 pts above district

▲ 1 pts above state median · even with county median

Science

Grade 520%

School 20% · District 31% · ▼ 10 pts below district

▼ 21 pts below state median · ▼ 11 pts below county median

Grade 827%

School 27% · District 33% · ▼ 6 pts below district

▼ 7 pts below state median · ▼ 2 pts below county median

Social studies

Grade 582%

School 82% · district not reported

▼ 9 pts below state median · ▲ 6 pts above county median

Grade 860%

School 60% · district not reported

▼ 18 pts below state median · ▲ 32 pts above county median

This schoolNEW YORK CITY GEOGRAPHIC DISTRICT #10, 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 5Lower-income35%Higher-income38%2 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income38%Higher-income67%29 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income47%Higher-income80%33 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 5Lower-income28%Higher-income38%9 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income40%Higher-income67%27 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income44%Higher-income80%36 pp gap