Ps 280 Home of the Lionhearts, Jackson Heights NY

Original Research by School Decision on Ps 280 Home of the Lionhearts

PS 280 Home of the Lionhearts serves kindergarten through fifth grade in Jackson Heights, a densely populated, highly diverse neighborhood in central Queens. The school sits within one of the most demographically rich areas in the country, where immigrant communities from South and East Asia and Latin America anchor the commercial and residential life. The area is anchored by a reformed open street called Paseo Park along 34th Avenue, where seven schools including PS 280 sit on or within a block of the corridor, weaving educational life directly into neighborhood fabric rather than isolating it on separate campuses.

The student body reflects Jackson Heights entirely. Nearly all students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a marker of economic need across the enrollment. The vast majority of students are Hispanic, with smaller populations of Asian and American Indian/Alaska Native students. Data on English learner status and special education enrollment was not available. The school serves roughly equal cohorts across its grade band, with roughly the same numbers across kindergarten through fifth, making for a fairly stable enrollment profile across the elementary years.

On state assessments in mathematics, proficiency rates sit around the midpoint across grades three through five, hovering just above and below that threshold. Performance in English language arts is notably lower, particularly in grades three and four, where fewer than half of tested students reach proficiency. Science proficiency at grade five, the only grade tested, falls in a similar range to ELA. Across both subjects, students demonstrate consistent participation in testing, with rates in the mid- to high nineties. Among elementary schools in Queens County, PS 280's overall proficiency index places it in the bottom quartile, meaning performance here trails the broader peer group of elementary schools across the county.

A parent may want to look into how the school is responding to these proficiency gaps, particularly in reading and writing, especially given that District 30 elementary schools now operate under the citywide NYC Reads mandate, which requires all schools to use one of three pre-approved, phonics-based reading curricula. This shift, in effect since 2024, standardized how reading is taught across the district and may offer insight into the school's instructional approach and any early signals of change.

Jackson Heights itself is a mixed-income neighborhood becoming less affordable for middle-income households while remaining comparatively cheaper than adjacent areas. Home values have declined modestly over the past year, though rents have risen. The neighborhood is densifying with new apartment buildings and mixed-use developments while the commercial district expands southward. Transit is dense and walkable, with the Jackson Heights-Roosevelt Avenue hub serving multiple subway lines and buses, including a direct connection to LaGuardia Airport. Travers Park and the Paseo Park open street provide recreational anchors within walking distance.

The school's location means families live within a neighborhood where school arrivals and departures are integrated into daily street life, where the commercial corridors support small immigrant-owned businesses and family-run shops, and where civic institutions like the Queens Public Library and health care anchors like Elmhurst Hospital shape local opportunity. The housing and economic context here is that of a working-immigrant neighborhood, not an affluent enclave, and the school's enrollment and proficiency data align with that reality.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 351%

School 51% · District 65% · ▼ 14 pts below district

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

Grade 448%

School 48% · District 67% · ▼ 19 pts below district

▼ 10 pts below state median · ▼ 20 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 337%

School 37% · District 59% · ▼ 22 pts below district

▼ 15 pts below state median · ▼ 25 pts below county median

Grade 432%

School 32% · District 61% · ▼ 29 pts below district

▼ 21 pts below state median · ▼ 29 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 538%

School 38% · District 49% · ▼ 11 pts below district

▼ 4 pts below state median · ▼ 6 pts below 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-income37%Higher-income40%3 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income52%Higher-income40%12 pp gap