Duanesburg Elementary School, Delanson NY

Original Research by School Decision on Duanesburg Elementary School

Duanesburg Elementary School sits in Delanson, a small rural community in Schenectady County, serving children from pre-kindergarten through sixth grade within the Duanesburg Central School District. The school is a regular public school, not a charter or magnet program. The locale brief for Delanson returned no usable information on the community's character, walkability, employers, or civic anchors, so that picture is left blank here rather than filled with guesswork. What the data does show is a school with a relatively small enrollment for its grade span, a predominantly white student body, and a meaningful multi-phase capital investment reshaping its physical plant.

On the state assessments, Duanesburg Elementary produces results that compare favorably within its peer set. Across grades three through six on the New York State Testing Program, math proficiency is solid and reasonably consistent across grade levels, with each grade landing in a range that places the school in the top quartile relative to districts in Schenectady County. ELA results follow a similar pattern, strongest in grades four and five and somewhat softer at third and sixth grade, though the school still sits above the midpoint among county districts. Fifth-grade science results are more moderate, landing closer to the middle of the proficiency range. Social studies data is available only from a very old testing cycle and is not current enough to be meaningful. Trend data was not available in the dataset, so it is not possible to characterize whether results have been climbing, holding steady, or slipping in recent years. Participation rates are high in the lower tested grades but noticeably lower in grades five and six, which a parent may want to ask the school about directly.

The student body is small enough that each grade cohort is modest in size. The racial and ethnic composition is largely white, with small Hispanic and multiracial populations and very few students from other groups. About a third of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which is a meaningful but not predominant share. Data on students with IEPs and English learners was not reported, so the school's special education and language support picture cannot be characterized from this data.

The district has been in the middle of a substantial, publicly reported capital reinvestment across multiple phases. Voters approved a tax-neutral capital project in late 2022 that addressed deferred maintenance at both the elementary school and the junior-senior high, including new roofing, kitchen and cafeteria renovations, HVAC and fire suppression upgrades, and classroom renovations. A subsequent Phase III proposal, put to voters in late 2025, would extend the work to include completing the elementary school roof, upgrading bus infrastructure for an eventual electric fleet, and building out a Student Support Center at the high school that consolidates counselors, social workers, psychologists, and special education staff in one accessible suite. These are reported as tax-neutral to homeowners. Families considering the area would be entering a district that has been actively upgrading aging buildings rather than deferring them.

Home values in the area run modestly below the New York state median but are broadly in line with national benchmarks, and have been appreciating at a pace comparable to national trends. Rental data was not available. For buyers, the affordability picture sits in a range typical of smaller upstate communities, though current mortgage rates make carrying costs a real consideration.

Program-specific offerings at the elementary level were not provided in this dataset. Chronic absenteeism and graduation rate data are not applicable here, the former because it was not reported and the latter because this school does not serve high school grades. What the available evidence adds up to is a small rural elementary school with math and ELA proficiency that outpaces most of its Schenectady County peers, a building undergoing genuine physical renewal, and a community context that the data simply does not illuminate beyond the school itself.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 362%

School 62% · District 62%

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

Grade 463%

School 63% · District 63%

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

Grade 564%

School 64% · District 64%

▲ 13 pts above state median · ▲ 27 pts above county median

Grade 666%

School 66% · District 66%

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

English language arts

Grade 353%

School 53% · District 53%

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

Grade 467%

School 67% · District 67%

▲ 14 pts above state median · ▲ 20 pts above county median

Grade 570%

School 70% · District 70%

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

Grade 660%

School 60% · District 60%

▲ 14 pts above state median · ▲ 20 pts above county median

Science

Grade 556%

School 56% · District 56%

▲ 15 pts above state median · ▲ 25 pts above county median

Social studies

Grade 596%

School 96% · district not reported

▲ 5 pts above state median · ▲ 5 pts above county median

This schoolDUANESBURG 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-income47%Higher-income57%10 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income47%Higher-income79%32 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income69%Higher-income70%1 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income46%Higher-income67%21 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income59%Higher-income64%6 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income53%Higher-income70%17 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income53%Higher-income70%17 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income46%Higher-income75%30 pp gap