Some history of PS 20 Anna Sliver School in New York City explained.

PS 20 Anna Sliver (Anna Sliver Elementary School) is one of several hundred schools operated by the New York City Department of Education. This news article will explain what PS 20 Anna Sliver serves as and is.


PS 20 Anna Sliver School was established as a school in 1832 by New York City Department of Education in the Lower East Side of Manhattan. This school was a 1-8 school which educated students enrolled in grades 1 through 8. Students were transferred to other schools after completing the 8th grade.

This particular school got its name from educator Anna Sliver. PS 20 was specifically named for an educator named in honor thereof Anna Sliver for her efforts in educating the children of New York City. Public elementary schools in New York City are referred to as "PS number". Many PS numbers are ambiguous and are/were being used by more than one school.


Many of the students enrolled at/in PS 20 Anna Sliver School came from lower income families since the Lower East Side has been a historically rough neighborhood throughout the 19th century and 20th century. This is one of the many factors of what led to a decline in quality of education at PS 20 Anna Sliver School.

According to schooldigger.com, PS 20 Anna Silver ranks worse than 62.1% of elementary schools in New York. PS 20 Anna Silver also ranks 9th among 16 ranked elementary schools in the New York City Geographic District # 1.  76.1% of students are receiving a free or discounted lunch. So sometime during the late 20th century is when test scores began to decline and quality of education when downhill. (Ref: https://www.schooldigger.com/go/NY/schools/0007602104/school.aspx)

According to data, comments, and reviews from greatschools.org, “This school is rated above average in school quality compared to other schools in New York. Students here are making above average year-over-year academic improvement, this school has below average results in how well it’s serving disadvantaged students, and students perform below average on state tests.”

(Ref: https://www.greatschools.org/new-york/new-york/2084-Ps-20-Anna-Silver/)


Beginning in 2002, PS 20 Anna Sliver School became a PK-5 school for students in pre-kindergarden to 5th grade. This was due to a reform in/and an overhaul of New York City Department of Education back in 2002 during the 2002-2003 fiscal year.

Efforts to re-engage staff have also been strong. The previous principal, Carmen Colon, was mistrusted by many staff members. Principal Sarah Pinto and Assistant Principal Carrie Orr, who both arrived in 2016, bring a thoughtful approach to curriculum and a can-do spirit to a school community that needs it after a weathering an atmosphere of mistrust between staff and the previous principal. Both Pinto and Orr have experience in top-performing Manhattan schools: Pinto taught special education at PS 11 in Chelsea and Orr taught at PS 41 in Greenwich Village. (Ref: https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache%3AIrgX9AAwK6kJ%3Ahttps%3A%2F%2Finsideschools.org%2Fschool%2F01M020+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us)

PS 20 Anna Sliver School is currently a Title I school as of 2021. PS 20 Anna Sliver School continues to be operated by New York City Department of Education. (Ref: https://ps20m.org/about-us/)

New York City Department of Education states that PS 20 Anna Sliver School is an un-zoned school and is one of only a handful of schools offering dual-language programs in both Mandarin (Chinese) and Spanish. That is why there are many Spanish speaking students. (Ref: https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:tqXt_6m5cmsJ:https://ps20m.org/about-us/+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us)

PS 20 Anna Sliver School is located at 166 Essex Street, New York City, New York, US 10002. Their postal addresses are 166 Essex Street, Manhattan, NY and 166 Essex St, New York, NY 10002.