The top reported proficiency rate is 39% in English language arts. The lowest is 35% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Finn Academy: an Elmira Charter School
Finn Academy is a charter school serving kindergarten through sixth grade in Elmira, located in the former Ernie Davis Middle School on Lake Street. The school sits in a small city of roughly mid-sized population in Chemung County's Southern Tier, an older industrial area with lower-than-average housing costs and significant poverty. In 2025, Finn Academy purchased the building it had leased since opening, signaling institutional permanence and long-term commitment to Elmira families.
The school enrolls a student body of roughly four hundred students across its grade bands, with white students forming the majority of enrollment and Black, multiracial, and Hispanic students representing substantial shares as well. Specific data on free-and-reduced-price lunch eligibility and special education or English learner populations was not available, so a parent may want to ask the school directly about its economic and special populations profile.
State testing data from the most recent school year shows proficiency rates in the low-to-mid range across subjects and grades. In English language arts, proficiency ranged from the mid-thirties to low-forties across grades three through six, with grade five and six slightly higher than younger grades. Mathematics proficiency was similar, ranging from roughly thirty to forty percent across tested grades, with third grade notably lower than fourth and fifth grades. Fifth-grade science proficiency was in the mid-thirties. When viewed against other districts in Chemung County, Finn Academy's overall proficiency index falls below the midpoint of the county's districts. These results reflect challenges in student attainment that a prospective parent may want to explore in depth with school leadership, looking into tutoring, intervention structures, and the school's academic supports.
The school shows strong test participation rates across grades and subjects, with most participation at or near full enrollment, and near-universal participation in the assessments administered. This consistency suggests reliable data and steady engagement with state assessment processes.
No data was available on chronic absenteeism, discipline, staffing levels, or course and program offerings beyond the core tested subjects. The school serves only grades K through six, so graduation rate data does not apply. Information on whether the school has a Title I designation or specific civil rights outcomes was not provided.
Elmira itself is the county seat, a compact city with downtown mixed-use development and Victorian-era neighborhoods along the Chemung River. Walk scores are moderate, with downtown and inner areas more walkable than outer neighborhoods. The economy is anchored by health care, manufacturing, and education. A state-backed Downtown Revitalization Initiative has funded housing and retail development, including completed affordable-housing projects and planned market-rate apartments. Population has declined gradually over recent decades but has stabilized in recent years. Public transit operates hourly on weekdays through CTRAN, and the city maintains an extensive park system, including a riverfront park, Eldridge Park with trails and a restored carousel, and public library downtown.
Housing values in the Elmira zip code area are modest, below state and national medians. Monthly rent is proportionally affordable as well. The economic context shows unemployment in the low-to-mid single digits, mortgage rates in the mid-sixes, and real median household income near the low-to-mid eighty-thousands.
Finn Academy's charter renewal by the SUNY Board of Trustees for a full five-year term in 2023 reflects the school's meeting of state accountability goals. For families considering enrollment, the school offers a smaller, neighborhood-based charter alternative within a declining city where many public elementary schools are geographically dispersed. A parent may want to investigate the school's specific instructional approach, its supports for students not meeting proficiency, its food services, transportation, and any enrichment or specials programming, as that detail was not included in available data.
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