Alfred-almond Elementary School, Almond NY

Original Research by School Decision on Alfred-almond Elementary School

Alfred-Almond Elementary is a small pre-K-through-sixth-grade school in the village of Almond in Allegany County's rural Southern Tier region. The school serves a community that is economically mixed, with roughly half of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch, and is majority white in composition. The district includes both elementary and middle/high school students and has embarked on substantial, voter-approved facility improvements, with a major capital project currently under construction and a second bond resolution authorized in 2025, signaling serious commitment to updating the school's physical plant.

On state testing, the school's performance is mixed and varies notably by grade. Fourth-grade math stands out as a clear strength, with a majority of students meeting or exceeding proficiency. Sixth-grade math and English language arts also show solid performance. The weaker areas appear in third-grade math, where proficiency falls well below the county median, and in fifth-grade assessments across both math and English language arts, where roughly half of students or fewer meet the standard. Science performance in fifth grade also sits near that midpoint. When performance is averaged across all tested subjects and grades, the school's overall proficiency index places it in the top quartile among the county's districts, a meaningful signal that despite variation across grades, the school's aggregate achievement is stronger than most of its neighbors in the county comparison set.

Participation in state testing is consistently high across the school, with participation rates in the low-to-mid 90s, indicating strong attendance on test days and minimal exclusions. The average scale scores follow similar patterns to proficiency rates, suggesting that the gap is not primarily driven by a few students at the borderline but reflects broader differences in readiness between grades.

The enrollment is small, serving roughly a few hundred students across eight grades from pre-K to sixth grade. The racial composition is predominantly white, with small numbers of students of color. Limited demographic detail on English learner status and special education enrollment was available in the reported data. A modest share of students receive special education services, though the specific count was not disclosed.

Almond itself is a small village on a stable trajectory rather than a growing one. The village has experienced flat population for more than a century due to geographic constraints that pushed regional commerce to nearby Hornell. A public library, historical society, and community connections exist but the community lacks fixed-route public transit. Housing values in the area are below both state and national medians, making homeownership relatively affordable for families. The regional economic driver is manufacturing investment in Hornell rather than internal village development.

A parent or resident considering this school should weigh the strong overall performance ranking against the actual grade-by-grade variation, which shows that third and fifth graders face particular challenges. The ongoing capital improvements may address facility conditions that families want to understand in person. The small size and rural setting create a close-knit peer environment; whether that aligns with a family's preference is a matter of individual choice. The school sits within a district with a pattern of stable tax levies and successive voter-approved investments in safety and infrastructure, a context that shapes both the school's resources and its tax base commitment.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 323%

School 23% · District 23%

▼ 35 pts below state median · ▼ 27 pts below county median

Grade 486%

School 86% · District 86%

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

Grade 551%

School 51% · District 51%

even with state median · ▼ 11 pts below county median

Grade 671%

School 71% · District 71%

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

English language arts

Grade 355%

School 55% · District 55%

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

Grade 461%

School 61% · District 61%

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

Grade 549%

School 49% · District 49%

▼ 6 pts below state median · ▼ 1 pts below county median

Grade 668%

School 68% · District 68%

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

Science

Grade 553%

School 53% · District 53%

▲ 11 pts above state median · ▲ 7 pts above county median

Social studies

Grade 590%

School 90% · district not reported

▼ 2 pts below state median

This schoolALFRED-ALMOND CENTRAL SCHOOL DISTRICT, 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-income46%Higher-income61%15 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income56%Higher-income67%11 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income37%Higher-income61%24 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income47%Higher-income88%41 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income17%Higher-income28%11 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income78%Higher-income94%17 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income32%Higher-income72%41 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income47%Higher-income94%47 pp gap