Upper East Side School Wins Prestigious 'Blue Ribbon' Award

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY ? An Upper East Side public school is one of just a few hundred across the nation to win an academic honor from the U.S. Department of Education.

The National Blue Ribbon Schools program recognizes public and private schools with high academic performance, or which have made progress in closing achievement gaps within student subgroups.

P.S. 290 Manhattan New School, a pre-K-through-5 elementary school on East 82nd Street, was announced last week as one of this year's winners. It is one of just three Blue Ribbon honorees in Manhattan, and six in New York City. (All six were nominated in the "exemplary high performing schools" category, rather than the achievement-gap category.)

"What better way to kick off the new school year than by celebrating the heroic educators and staff at our Blue Ribbon Schools," Schools Chancellor Meisha Porter said in a statement. "Our school communities have done incredible work throughout the pandemic, and they continue to show up and put our students first every single day."

In its application for the award, the Manhattan New School described itself as "committed to promoting a diverse, equitable and inclusive culture," with a curriculum designed to foster curiosity among students.

Like other New York City schools, P.S. 290 began the last academic year partially remote, although 75 percent of its families chose hybrid learning rather than the fully remote option.

The school was founded in 1991 by a group of teachers from Columbia University Teachers College, becoming a fully recognized public school by 1994. Initially enrolling children from across the city, the school now welcomes students mostly from the surrounding district.

The Blue Ribbon program began in 1982, and has honored more than 9,000 schools since its inception.