Steele Elementary School, Baldwin NY

Original Research by School Decision on Steele Elementary School

Steele Elementary is a kindergarten-through-fifth-grade public school in Baldwin, a diverse residential hamlet on Nassau County's South Shore. The school enrolls about that size of students for its grade band, with just under half qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch. The student body is ethnically mixed: roughly evenly split between Hispanic and Black students, with smaller groups of Asian, white, and other students, and a small number of Native Hawaiian and American Indian students. Data on special education enrollment and English learners were not available.

In state testing, Steele's students in grades three, four, and five post proficiency rates that place the school well above the county median across both ELA and math. In grade three, approximately four in five students meet proficiency in both subjects. Fourth-grade math dips modestly to around seven in ten proficient, while ELA holds steady at about that same level or slightly higher. By fifth grade, math and ELA rebound to similar strength, with roughly three in four and four in five students proficient respectively. In science, tested only in fifth grade, about seven in ten students meet the benchmark. Because state assessments do not test grades K-2, no proficiency data are reported for those early grades. Social studies data exist only from an older year and are not current.

Across all tested subjects and grades where current data were reported, Steele's overall proficiency index places it in the top quartile when compared to other schools serving similar grade bands across Nassau County's districts.

The school is part of the Baldwin Union Free School District, which in a recent community referendum approved a capital bond to modernize aging school buildings, including high school facilities. The district is also implementing Baldwin 2035, a K-12 curriculum redesign built with families and community input to develop future-focused academic skills and workforce readiness. These are district-wide changes that will shape the educational pathway for students at every school, including Steele.

Baldwin itself is a walking-distance community to the LIRR Babylon Branch station, with moderate walkability centered on a Grand Avenue commercial corridor that is actively redeveloping. The town is in the midst of state-backed downtown revitalization focused on the LIRR station area, with mixed-use apartment projects underway and zoning changes to encourage transit-oriented development. Single-family homes in the Baldwin zip code are valued at levels typical of Nassau County's suburban market, with an active housing inventory. A majority of homes sell or rent in the mid-range for the county, positioning Baldwin as an accessible suburban location rather than a high-cost outlier.

At Steele, attendance data and discipline records were not available, so a full picture of student engagement and school climate cannot be assembled from the data on hand. A parent weighing Steele should feel confident in its demonstrated academic results in tested grades while recognizing that grades K-2 operate outside the state testing window and cannot be benchmarked against the same standard.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 383%

School 83% · District 73% · ▲ 10 pts above district

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

Grade 471%

School 71% · District 67% · ▲ 5 pts above district

▲ 13 pts above state median · ▼ 6 pts below county median

Grade 574%

School 74% · District 66% · ▲ 9 pts above district

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

English language arts

Grade 381%

School 81% · District 69% · ▲ 12 pts above district

▲ 29 pts above state median · ▲ 14 pts above county median

Grade 481%

School 81% · District 65% · ▲ 16 pts above district

▲ 28 pts above state median · ▲ 13 pts above county median

Grade 583%

School 83% · District 65% · ▲ 18 pts above district

▲ 28 pts above state median · ▲ 13 pts above county median

Science

Grade 571%

School 71% · District 53% · ▲ 18 pts above district

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

Social studies

Grade 5100%

School 100% · district not reported

▲ 8 pts above state median · ▲ 2 pts above county median

This schoolBALDWIN UNION FREE 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-income77%Higher-income84%8 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income80%Higher-income81%1 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income75%Higher-income86%11 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income69%Higher-income92%23 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income67%Higher-income76%10 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income63%Higher-income78%15 pp gap