Get more from InsideSchools

A Message from InsideSchools: The data below is the most up-to-date data available from City and State systems. We are working hard to update the narratives for all schools. We welcome your insights in the Comments section. Questions? Ask us!

P.S. 175 City Island

Grades: K-8
Staff Pick
200 City Island Avenue
Bronx NY 10464
Phone: 718-885-1093

Our Insights

What’s Special

Cheery close-knit environment

The Downside

Tough commute for off-islanders

PS 175 is a small k-8 school with small classes and a cheery, close-knit environment. It's located on City Island, a tiny Bronx community surrounded by the Long Island Sound that's connected to the mainland by a bridge. Most students who attend are local residents who stay through the 8th grade.

Principal Julie Porras took the helm in 2019, replacing longtime principal Amy Lipson Ellis. Prior to her arrival at PS 175, Porras was an assistant principal at PS 76, The Bennington School.

Class schedules are designed to ease students into the middle school experience. In grades k to 3, students stay with the same teacher all day—a typical elementary school format. In grades 4 to 6, students have two teachers, one for English and social studies, and the other for math and science. Seventh- and 8th-graders change classes for each subject.

What you don’t see in classes are lots of worksheets or textbooks. In the early grades, children learn to read by selecting appropriate books from well-stocked classroom libraries. In the upper grades students learn from many sources such as news articles, diaries, historical documents and fiction. They also write a lot on a range of topics. In a kindergarten class we observed, the writing topic of the day was my favorite thing to do in school. In 5th grade, students were comparing and contrasting Cinderella stories from different cultures.

We saw teachers tailoring assignments to students’ skill levels. For instance, as part of their study of the Salem witch trials, 7th-graders were assigned one of two books: Advanced students tackled The Crucible, while others read A Break with Charity, a more manageable, but still grade-appropriate historical novel. Students then worked together to stage a mock witch trial.

In several science classes, students seemed to enjoy working together, whether it was experimenting with yeast to identify the presence of other chemicals (5th grade) or role-playing representatives from different  countries—United States, Russia, China and India—duringa class-wide debate on climate change (8th grade).

For math, lessons combine hands-on work to help students understand concepts, and a lot of practice and drilling to build computational fluency.

Qualifying 8th-graders take high school level coursework in Earth science and algebra.

Teaching artists from Bronx Arts Ensembles work with students in all grades. Middle school students participate in overnight trips to places such as Greenkill Environmental Center, Philadelphia, Boston and Washington D.C.

All students have to leave the island for high school. Some graduates attend Catholic high schools, but many choose public high schools in Manhattan and the Bronx

There is a free sports and arts after-school program for students in grades 6 to 8. A very small program run by Mosholu Montefiore Community Center provides after-school childcare for elementary students who cannot be picked up or walk home on their own at the end of the school day.

SPECIAL EDUCATION: There are ICT (integrated co-teaching) classes and SETSS.

ADMISSIONS: Zoned, neighborhood school. (Laura Zingmond, visited December 2015; updated via DOE reports, January 2020)

Read more

School Stats

Citywide Average Key
This school is Better Near Worse than the citywide average

Is this school safe and well-run?

From the 2020-21 NYC School Survey

How many students say they feel safe in the hallways, bathrooms and locker rooms?
90%
80% Citywide Average
How many students think bullying happens most or all of the time at this school?
53%
56% Citywide Average
How many teachers say the principal is an effective manager?
89%
78% Citywide Average

From the 2019-20 NY State Report Card

How many students were suspended?
0%
1% Citywide Average

From this school's most recent Quality Review Report

Are teachers effective?

From the 2021-22 School Quality Guide

How many teachers have 3 or more years of experience teaching?
91%
82% Citywide Average
Years of principal experience at this school
3.1

How do students perform academically?

From the New York State 2022-2023 Assessment Database

How many elementary school students scored 3-4 on the state math exam?
47%
53% Citywide Average
How many elementary school students scored 3-4 on the state reading exam?
41%
50% Citywide Average
How many middle school students scored 3-4 on the state math exam?
61%
52% Citywide Average
How many middle school students scored 3-4 on the state reading exam?
51%
57% Citywide Average

From the 2021-22 School Quality Guide

How many 8th-graders earn high school credit?
21%
39% Citywide Average

Who does this school serve?

From the 2022-23 Demographic Snapshot

Enrollment
238
Asian
7%
Black
10%
Hispanic
49%
White
31%
Other
3%
Free or reduced priced lunch
59%
Students with disabilities
20%
English language learners
6%

From the 2021-22 School Quality Guide

Average daily attendance
93%
90% Citywide Average
How many students miss 18 or more days of school?
25%
38% Citywide Average

From the 2020 School Directories

Uniforms required?
No

How does this school serve special populations?

From the New York State 2022-2023 Assessment Database

How many students with disabilities scored 3-4 on the state math exam?
0%
27% Citywide Average
How many students with disabilities scored 3-4 on the state reading exam?
8%
21% Citywide Average
How many English language learners scored 3-4 on the state math exam?
0%
17% Citywide Average
How many English language learners scored 3-4 on the state reading exam?
0%
12% Citywide Average


For more information about our data sources, see About Our Data · More DOE statistics for this school

Contact & Location

Location

City Island (District 11)
Buses: Bx29, BxM8

Contact

Principal
Julie Porras
Parent Coordinator
Tina Gisante

Other Details

Shared campus?
No
This school is in its own building.
Uniforms required?
No
Metal detectors?
No

Zone for the 2019-2020 school year. Call school to confirm.

Was this information helpful?

Get more from InsideSchools

Comments

  • Is this your school? Please post any news, updates, events, changes, or other information!
  • We welcome questions, open discussions, and disagreements but comments with personal attacks, rude language, or those with seemingly malicious intent will be deleted.
  • Very long comments, those that contain links, or repeat comments may be blocked by our spam filter.
  • Problems? email us at contact@insideschools.org.
  • Users must comply with our Terms of Use.

×