Southside Elementary School, Buffalo NY

Original Research by School Decision on Southside Elementary School

Southside Elementary School serves grades from pre-K through eighth grade in Buffalo's Southside neighborhood. The school enrolls a diverse student body with a significant majority of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting the economic characteristics of the surrounding community. The student population is racially and ethnically mixed, with white, Black, Hispanic, and Asian students all represented, along with students identifying as two or more races.

The school's academic performance, based on state test results from the most recent year, shows proficiency rates that are notably low across both math and English language arts. In math, proficiency varies by grade, ranging from about one-tenth to roughly two-fifths of students meeting proficiency standards, with particularly weak results in the fifth and sixth grades. In English language arts, results follow a similar pattern, with proficiency rates generally between one-fifth and one-third across tested grades. Science testing in grades five and eight reveals particularly challenging results, with very small percentages of students meeting proficiency standards. When compared to districts across Erie County, the school's overall proficiency index places it in the bottom quartile of schools in the county.

The Buffalo City School District, in which Southside sits, has recently adopted a science-of-reading, phonics-based literacy approach, including full Orton-Gillingham implementation for early grades, representing a fundamental shift in how reading instruction occurs. The district invested substantially in teacher training for this approach. Additionally, the district launched a statewide Universal School Meals Program beginning in the 2025-26 school year, providing free breakfast and lunch to all students with no application required.

The district is managing significant financial pressures, including structural deficits projected over multiple years. While school closures were initially considered, district leaders decided against closing schools in 2026 and instead are pursuing alternative budget solutions and a management consultant to study future restructuring. This ongoing financial climate creates an environment of uncertainty regarding the district's long-term operations and staffing.

For families considering Southside Elementary, the core question centers on the student support needed for children working substantially below state proficiency benchmarks and the school's capacity to accelerate learning. The recently adopted literacy framework represents an intentional, research-backed shift in approach that has been broadly adopted in schools seeking to improve early reading outcomes, but it is too early to assess results at this school specifically. Parents may want to engage directly with the school about how this initiative is being implemented in their child's classroom, what progress monitoring is in place, and what additional supports the school can provide to students working below grade level. State testing participation rates, while generally reasonable, dip notably in eighth grade science, so a conversation about the nature and accessibility of that instruction could also be valuable.

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Academic performance

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

New York Regents Exams

1 course 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
Science	22	36.0%

Math

Grade 329%

School 29% · District 34% · ▼ 5 pts below district

▼ 30 pts below state median · ▼ 21 pts below county median

Grade 432%

School 32% · District 26% · ▲ 6 pts above district

▼ 26 pts below state median · ▼ 16 pts below county median

Grade 512%

School 12% · District 23% · ▼ 12 pts below district

▼ 40 pts below state median · ▼ 29 pts below county median

Grade 612%

School 12% · District 25% · ▼ 13 pts below district

▼ 33 pts below state median · ▼ 21 pts below county median

Grade 737%

School 37% · District 24% · ▲ 13 pts above district

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

Grade 826%

School 26% · District 18% · ▲ 8 pts above district

▼ 11 pts below state median · ▲ 1 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 322%

School 22% · District 32% · ▼ 10 pts below district

▼ 30 pts below state median · ▼ 24 pts below county median

Grade 421%

School 21% · District 23% · ▼ 2 pts below district

▼ 32 pts below state median · ▼ 21 pts below county median

Grade 510%

School 10% · District 26% · ▼ 16 pts below district

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

Grade 627%

School 27% · District 27%

▼ 19 pts below state median · ▼ 8 pts below county median

Grade 728%

School 28% · District 26% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▼ 20 pts below state median · ▼ 7 pts below county median

Grade 818%

School 18% · District 31% · ▼ 13 pts below district

▼ 30 pts below state median · ▼ 16 pts below county median

Science

Grade 516%

School 16% · District 20% · ▼ 4 pts below district

▼ 26 pts below state median · ▼ 16 pts below county median

Grade 88%

School 8% · District 17% · ▼ 9 pts below district

▼ 26 pts below state median · ▼ 23 pts below county median

Social studies

Grade 580%

School 80% · district not reported

▼ 12 pts below state median · ▼ 13 pts below county median

Grade 855%

School 55% · district not reported

▼ 23 pts below state median · ▼ 20 pts below county median

This schoolBUFFALO CITY 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 4Lower-income15%Higher-income100%85 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income9%Higher-income17%7 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income19%Higher-income80%61 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 4Lower-income27%Higher-income83%57 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income11%Higher-income14%3 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income8%Higher-income40%32 pp gap