Academy Charter School-uniondale, Uniondale NY

Original Research by School Decision on Academy Charter School-uniondale

Academy Charter School-Uniondale sits on Charles Lindbergh Boulevard in the northern, more commercial part of Uniondale, a dense hamlet in the Town of Hempstead on central Long Island. The school runs from kindergarten through twelfth grade, which is relatively unusual for a charter school and means a family could enroll a child in kindergarten and see them through to graduation without changing schools. That continuity is a genuine structural feature for parents weighing options.

The school is a public charter, which carries one practical reality worth knowing: its authorization to operate is subject to periodic renewal rather than assumed permanent. A recent SUNY renewal review, publicly reported, found a strong program meeting renewal benchmarks, and the charter was evaluated favorably. That review also drew public concern from some Uniondale district stakeholders about funding flows, which is a common tension in charter contexts and worth understanding as background.

The student body is predominantly Black and Hispanic, with a substantial share of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch. IEP and English learner rates were not available in the data provided.

State assessment results are reported through eighth grade. The picture in math is genuinely strong at the elementary level, with third and fourth grade proficiency rates among the highest you would find anywhere, and solid results in sixth and seventh grade as well. Fifth and eighth grade math results are somewhat lower, though still well above state midpoints. In English language arts, third grade results are strong; fourth through eighth grade results range from the low-to-mid seventies up to the mid-eighties depending on the grade, with some variation across years. Science results at fifth and eighth grade fall in the low-to-mid sixties, which is more modest, and a parent may want to ask the school specifically about how science instruction is structured and whether any changes are planned. Relative to districts in Nassau County, the school's overall proficiency index sits in the top quartile, which is a meaningful result given the county includes a wide range of affluent suburban districts.

No state testing data is reported for grades nine through twelve because New York's standardized assessments at the secondary level are structured differently, with Regents exams rather than the NYSTP that generates the proficiency figures above. A graduation rate was not available in the data, and a parent should ask the school directly for its Regents diploma completion data.

Publicly reported information describes a Career and Technical Education pathway built around the Project Lead The Way curriculum, an established STEM program used in schools nationally. The school also publicly reports performing arts offerings and an athletics program that is, per the school's own materials, the first charter school in Nassau and Suffolk Counties to gain membership in a regional athletic association. Academic support is structured to run beyond the school day, including after-school sessions, Saturday programs, and summer intervention, all oriented toward meeting Regents diploma requirements.

Uniondale itself is a place in transition. The northern stretch around the former Nassau Coliseum is the subject of a large mixed-use development plan, publicly reported as involving a partnership between developers and Northwell Health, with housing, research, and commercial space proposed. A casino proposal has also been floated for adjacent land. The Hempstead Turnpike cuts through the hamlet and is publicly documented as one of the most hazardous stretches for pedestrians on Long Island, something to weigh if children would be walking near it. Bus transit runs along Uniondale Avenue and the turnpike via NICE bus, with the Roosevelt Field Mall terminal serving as a major hub, though transit advocates have raised equity and frequency concerns about service in the area.

Housing near the school runs well above both the state and national median home values, with rents also at a premium level for the zip code. The market has seen meaningful price appreciation over the past year.

For a family considering this school, the core case is strong measured academic results through the tested grades, a CTE and STEM pathway with structured supports through high school, and the practical continuity of a single K-12 community. The science results and the absence of a publicly available graduation rate are reasonable things to probe further.

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Academic performance

How students perform on state tests, by grade, set against the district.

Advanced Placement & IB

5 subjects offered · 2023-24

Each card is one AP or IB subject. The headline number is the share of students scoring 3 or higher on the exam — the threshold for college credit at most universities. The bar below each rate shows the underlying distribution across performance levels.

Score:12· no credit345· extremely well qualified

Sciences

Environmental Science

12 tested

25.0%

scored 3 or higher

History and Social Sciences

U.S. History

23 tested

13.0%

scored 3 or higher

Other

Language and Comp

31 tested

9.7%

scored 3 or higher

Literature and Comp

21 tested

23.8%

scored 3 or higher

World History

31 tested · Grade 10

45.2%

scored 3 or higher

New York Regents Exams

4 courses reported · 2024-25

End-of-course exams required for a New York Regents diploma. Each row shows the cohort size and the share of students scoring at the proficient level or higher.

Course	Students tested	% proficient
Social Studies	138	65.0%
Math	112	51.0%
Ela	105	87.0%
Science	37	54.0%

Math

Grade 392%

School 92% · district not reported

▲ 33 pts above state median · ▲ 17 pts above county median

Grade 489%

School 89% · district not reported

▲ 31 pts above state median · ▲ 11 pts above county median

Grade 572%

School 72% · district not reported

▲ 21 pts above state median · even with county median

Grade 681%

School 81% · district not reported

▲ 36 pts above state median · ▲ 10 pts above county median

Grade 790%

School 90% · district not reported

▲ 37 pts above state median · ▲ 22 pts above county median

Grade 874%

School 74% · district not reported

▲ 37 pts above state median · ▲ 35 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 385%

School 85% · district not reported

▲ 33 pts above state median · ▲ 18 pts above county median

Grade 474%

School 74% · district not reported

▲ 21 pts above state median · ▲ 6 pts above county median

Grade 578%

School 78% · district not reported

▲ 24 pts above state median · ▲ 8 pts above county median

Grade 671%

School 71% · district not reported

▲ 25 pts above state median · ▲ 8 pts above county median

Grade 783%

School 83% · district not reported

▲ 36 pts above state median · ▲ 25 pts above county median

Grade 875%

School 75% · district not reported

▲ 27 pts above state median · ▲ 19 pts above county median

Science

Grade 564%

School 64% · district not reported

▲ 22 pts above state median · ▲ 4 pts above county median

Grade 865%

School 65% · district not reported

▲ 32 pts above state median · ▲ 43 pts above county median

This schoolDistrict average, same grade

Graduation rate (ACGR) reflects the federally published Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate for the most recent year available. We refresh this data annually at the close of each academic year in June. The federal source publishes a banded rate (for example, "90-94%") instead of an exact number for cohorts small enough to risk identifying individual students. The state distribution chart, where shown, plots every school in the state with a published rate or band; schools whose rate is federally suppressed are excluded. Where the federal source publishes a band rather than an exact rate, the school is placed within its band using a stable, ID-derived offset, so its position is consistent across visits.

Proficiency by household income

English language arts

Grade 3Lower-income84%Higher-income90%6 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income74%Higher-income73%1 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income79%Higher-income77%2 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income64%Higher-income85%21 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income82%Higher-income88%6 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income73%Higher-income82%9 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income90%Higher-income100%10 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income89%Higher-income90%1 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income70%Higher-income77%7 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income76%Higher-income90%15 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income91%Higher-income88%3 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income70%Higher-income84%14 pp gap