Ps 76 William Hallet, Long Island City NY

Original Research by School Decision on Ps 76 William Hallet

PS 76 William Hallet is a pre-kindergarten through fifth-grade school serving Long Island City, a rapidly gentrifying neighborhood in western Queens that sits across the East River from Midtown Manhattan. The school is embedded in what was historically an industrial area now transforming into a dense, mixed-use downtown with waterfront parks, tech offices, cultural institutions, and new housing.

The school draws a heavily low-income student body. More than nine in ten students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, and the student population is predominantly Hispanic, with significant Black and Asian enrollments and a smaller white population. Enrollment is small to mid-sized for the grade band, with roughly even distribution across kindergarten through fifth grade and a smaller pre-K cohort.

On state testing, PS 76's performance sits below the midpoint among Queens County's elementary schools. In math, proficiency rates across third through fifth grade range roughly from half to a bit over half the students meeting standard. In ELA, the picture is weaker: only about a third of third graders tested met standard, while fourth and fifth graders show roughly half meeting proficiency. Science testing, available only in fifth grade, shows four in ten students proficient. The school's overall proficiency index across all tested subjects and grades sits below the county median. These results signal that academic gains do not come automatically; parents considering this school should look into what academic supports exist and how the school is working to close proficiency gaps, particularly in reading.

The neighborhood context matters. Long Island City has undergone a steep residential boom over the past two decades, driven by a city rezoning that opened industrial land to mixed-use development. New apartments, offices, and housing towers continue to rise, especially around the Queens Plaza and Court Square transit nodes and the waterfront Hunter's Point South project. The area is densely served by eight subway lines, making it car-optional for most families. Median home values in the 11106 zip code have risen substantially and rents are rising at a brisk pace. About a substantial share of residents are rent-burdened, even as new development continues.

A major district-level shift affecting PS 76 and all other elementary schools in Geographic District 30 is the mandated adoption of phonics-based reading curricula as part of the citywide NYC Reads initiative. Schools in the district no longer choose their own reading materials; instead they teach from one of three city-approved programs. This is a permanent, recent change that shapes reading instruction across the grade band. Additionally, the city's overhaul of Gifted & Talented admissions, which expanded G&T seats to every district and replaced standardized testing with a grades-and-lottery model, now affects how accelerated elementary programs are accessed in this district.

The school carries the profile of a high-poverty neighborhood school in a neighborhood undergoing rapid residential change and private investment. Families here are largely renters in an increasingly expensive market. The academic data shows the school is working with challenges typical of schools serving predominantly low-income, multilingual student populations, and parents would benefit from direct conversations with school leadership about reading instruction, math support, and how the school measures progress and targets intervention.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 358%

School 58% · District 65% · ▼ 7 pts below district

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

Grade 450%

School 50% · District 67% · ▼ 16 pts below district

▼ 8 pts below state median · ▼ 18 pts below county median

Grade 551%

School 51% · District 59% · ▼ 8 pts below district

even with state median · ▼ 9 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 338%

School 38% · District 59% · ▼ 21 pts below district

▼ 14 pts below state median · ▼ 24 pts below county median

Grade 452%

School 52% · District 61% · ▼ 9 pts below district

even with state median · ▼ 9 pts below county median

Grade 550%

School 50% · District 62% · ▼ 12 pts below district

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

Science

Grade 540%

School 40% · District 49% · ▼ 9 pts below district

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

Social studies

Grade 596%

School 96% · district not reported

▲ 5 pts above state median · ▲ 7 pts above county median

This schoolNEW YORK CITY GEOGRAPHIC DISTRICT #30, 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-income39%Higher-income33%5 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income55%Higher-income70%15 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income50%Higher-income60%10 pp gap