The top reported proficiency rate is 68% in Social studies. The lowest is 29% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Sheridan Preparatory Academy
Sheridan Preparatory Academy sits on Sheridan Avenue in Albany, a preK-through-grade-5 neighborhood school within the Albany City School District. The school is small relative to what you might find in a suburban elementary, and it draws from a community that is predominantly Black and Hispanic, with a large share of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch. IEP and English learner counts were not reported in the data available, so families with children in those populations may want to ask the school directly about those services.
State assessment results from the New York State Testing Program are available for grades three through five. Math proficiency is the relative bright spot: fourth and fifth graders reach proficiency at rates that are in the low-to-mid forties, while third graders come in somewhat lower. ELA follows a similar arc, with fifth grade the strongest of the three tested years and third grade the weakest, where fewer than a third of students scored at proficiency. Science results for fifth grade are in a similar range to the lower ELA figures. Taken together, the school's overall proficiency index places it below the midpoint among districts in Albany County in the comparison set available. These numbers do not suggest a school operating with academic results a parent would call strong, and a family weighing options may want to ask what supports are in place for students who are not yet at grade level.
No multi-year trend data was available in the records provided, so it is not possible to characterize whether performance has been moving in any direction.
The Albany City School District context matters here. The district recently converted North Albany Academy into a middle school and established a new elementary-to-middle feeder pattern affecting most of its twelve elementary schools, so parents at Sheridan should confirm which middle school their child would attend under the current alignment. The district also offers a Spanish-English Dual Language program, now operating as Albany International Academy, which expanded to two sections at every grade level through the 2026-27 school year and is open by lottery from pre-K onward; that is a separate enrollment pathway worth knowing about if immersion is of interest. The district expanded elementary busing eligibility starting in 2026-27, lowering the distance threshold for grades K-5, which may be relevant for families in the Sheridan attendance zone. Voters also approved a facilities project focused on school safety, security, and building infrastructure across the district, with no added tax impact.
Albany itself is a working city built around state government. The neighborhood around Sheridan Avenue is part of a dense residential city where the most walkable commercial corridors, Lark Street and Central Avenue among them, are a reasonable distance away. Downtown is anchored by the Capitol and Empire State Plaza; Washington Park's roughly ninety acres sits within the city's fabric and hosts the annual Tulip Festival. Public transit through CDTA, including bus routes and a free trolley, connects the city's neighborhoods. Albany is in an active revitalization phase, with a recently unveiled downtown strategy directing substantial public investment toward housing conversion and new construction, most visibly in the South End and along Central Avenue.
Home prices in the zip codes around the school are meaningfully below the New York State median, and year-over-year appreciation has been running at a moderate pace. Rents have been climbing somewhat faster on a percentage basis. The district has held tax-levy increases very low for several consecutive years, with property taxes representing a declining share of the overall budget, which is a real affordability consideration for families buying into the area.
Sheridan Preparatory Academy is a small urban elementary serving a high-poverty, majority-minority student body in one of Albany's denser residential neighborhoods. The academic results are below the county midpoint in the available comparison set, and trend data to show direction is absent. For families whose children are already enrolled or who live in the attendance zone, the district's expanded transportation, the new middle school feeder structure, and the dual-language option at another school are all worth tracking as children move through the elementary years.
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