PS 163 ALFRED E SMITH vs PS 153 ADAM CLAYTON POWELL

PS 163 Alfred E Smith and PS 153 Adam Clayton Powell sit just 2.5 miles apart in New York City and earn nearly identical overall ratings — 8.7 versus 8.6 out of 10, a gap of 0.1 points. That razor-thin overall difference masks more meaningful variation underneath. In state rank, PS 163 Alfred E Smith places #166 of 4,742 New York schools while PS 153 Adam Clayton Powell comes in at #211, a separation of 45 spots that puts both schools firmly in the top 5 percent statewide.

Academically, PS 163 Alfred E Smith holds a clear edge: its academic score of 9.3/10 runs 0.5 points ahead of PS 153 Adam Clayton Powell's 8.8/10. The growth picture reverses that dynamic. PS 153 Adam Clayton Powell scores 9.9/10 on growth versus PS 163 Alfred E Smith's 9.7/10 — meaning students at PS 153 are progressing slightly faster relative to their starting points, even if PS 163 students test at a higher absolute level. For families weighing raw proficiency against year-over-year momentum, those two numbers tell different stories.

PS 163 Alfred E Smith enrolls 524 students compared to 389 at PS 153 Adam Clayton Powell, making it a meaningfully larger school. PS 153's smaller population translates into a tighter student-teacher ratio: 11.4 students per teacher versus 13.1 at PS 163. The socioeconomic profiles diverge more sharply — 66 percent of PS 163 Alfred E Smith students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch versus 89 percent at PS 153 Adam Clayton Powell, a 23-percentage-point gap that reflects substantially different community circumstances and makes PS 153's strong growth score all the more notable.

Both schools serve the same grade span, prekindergarten through fifth grade, so families with children at any elementary age will find a full program at either building. No differences in specialized programs, magnet designations, or language offerings were available for this comparison.