Canandaigua Primary-elementary School, Canandaigua NY

Original Research by School Decision on Canandaigua Primary-elementary School

Canandaigua Primary-Elementary School serves pre-kindergarten through fifth grade in a building on West Gibson Street in Canandaigua, a historic small city at the northern end of Canandaigua Lake in the Finger Lakes. The school enrolls a broad cross-section of the city and surrounding areas, with enrollment distributed across the grade band and a student population that is predominantly white, with smaller populations of Hispanic, multiracial, and other students. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating mixed household income across the catchment area.

State testing data from the most recent school year shows middle-range proficiency in math and English language arts. In math, roughly half of students demonstrated proficiency at the grade level across third through fifth grade, with fifth grade and third grade posting slightly higher rates than fourth grade. English language arts results run similarly, though fourth-grade performance dipped below half the cohort. Fifth-grade reading proficiency was stronger, above the middle range for the school overall. Science results in fifth grade showed proficiency slightly below the math average. Testing participation was strong, with most grades showing high engagement in both math and reading assessments. The school sits in the top quartile among Ontario County's districts on an overall proficiency index, meaning it is among the stronger-performing elementary schools in the county, though state proficiency rates across the school remain at or below the fifty percent mark rather than showing dominant mastery.

The district is undergoing a substantial facility upgrade through a capital project approved in late 2024 that will renovate all school buildings, including this one, across 2025 through 2028. The work will address safety, technology, and infrastructure without raising property taxes. However, families should know that the district's operating budgets and property tax levies have been on an upward trajectory; the 2025-2026 budget carried a multi-year increase, and the following year's plan includes another levy rise. Combined with a separate voter-approved library tax increase that is collected on school bills, total property tax costs for homeowners have risen successively, a pattern that continues into the coming fiscal year.

The school building is on a separated campus rather than embedded in downtown Canandaigua, though the city is a walkable place with a restored historic downtown core and lakefront park access. The Canandaigua area is experiencing housing growth, with new residential projects underway and the town recently certified as pro-housing by the state, so the school sits within a community experiencing expansion and demographic change.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 355%

School 55% · District 54% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▼ 4 pts below state median · ▲ 4 pts above county median

Grade 453%

School 53% · District 53%

▼ 6 pts below state median · ▼ 3 pts below county median

Grade 556%

School 56% · District 55%

▲ 4 pts above state median · ▼ 3 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 355%

School 55% · District 54% · ▲ 1 pts above district

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

Grade 447%

School 47% · District 48%

▼ 5 pts below state median · ▲ 2 pts above county median

Grade 557%

School 57% · District 57%

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

Science

Grade 553%

School 53% · District 53%

▲ 12 pts above state median

Social studies

Grade 592%

School 92% · district not reported

even with state median · even with county median

This schoolCANANDAIGUA 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 3Lower-income35%Higher-income69%34 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income29%Higher-income60%31 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income41%Higher-income68%27 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income40%Higher-income65%25 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income39%Higher-income62%24 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income41%Higher-income66%25 pp gap