Alice E Grady Elementary School, Elmsford NY

Original Research by School Decision on Alice E Grady Elementary School

Alice E. Grady Elementary School sits on Cobb Lane in Elmsford, a small village in Westchester County about 25 miles north of New York City. The school serves grades two through six as a regular public elementary school within the Elmsford Union Free School District, and its enrollment puts it in a typical size range for an elementary school of that grade span.

The student body is predominantly Hispanic, with Black students making up the next largest group, and smaller shares of white and Asian students. Free and reduced-price lunch data was not available in what was provided, so economic need cannot be characterized directly from this data. English learner and special education rates were similarly not reported.

On the New York State Testing Program, Grady's results show a real pattern worth understanding. Third grade is the entry point for state testing, and both math and ELA proficiency at that grade come in well below what the school achieves in later grades. By fourth and fifth grade, math proficiency climbs into the upper-sixties, and sixth grade is higher still. ELA follows a similar arc, with fifth grade reaching the low-to-mid seventies. Science is tested at fifth grade only; proficiency there lands in the upper fifties. Taken together, the school's overall proficiency index places it just below the midpoint among districts in Westchester County, based on that county comparison set. That is a straightforward characterization of where it sits, not a ceiling. The third-grade gap relative to upper grades is worth a conversation with the school, both to understand what is driving it and what supports are in place for incoming students.

Trend data across years was not available in what was provided, so it is not possible to say whether results have been moving up or down.

The community context matters here. Elmsford is publicly reported as more affordable than much of Westchester County, with ranch houses, Cape Cods, and modest colonials on small lots making up the residential side of the village. The Route 9A corridor brings retail, warehouse, and light-industrial uses close by, giving the village a commercial texture alongside its quieter streets. Home values in the zip code track well above both the state and national medians, reflecting Westchester's broader market even at Elmsford's relative discount within the county. Rents have climbed, and new multifamily construction has added rental units in recent years, including newer luxury-marketed complexes on East Main Street. The county housing market as a whole has seen active listings decline year over year while prices remain elevated, meaning inventory for buyers is limited.

The district itself went through a meaningful disruption when voters rejected its spending plan twice for the 2023-24 school year, making Elmsford one of only three districts statewide to operate under a state-imposed contingency budget that year. A contingency budget freezes the property tax levy and restricts capital and equipment spending. Publicly reported accounts confirm the district came back the following year with a voter-approved budget that included both a capital reserve fund and a repair reserve fund for infrastructure, restoring normal operations. The high school's athletic fields have also been rebuilt with synthetic turf under a separately approved capital authorization. None of this directly touches Alice E. Grady's day-to-day instruction, but the budget history is context a family considering the district should know about.

Because Grady serves only grades two through six, no graduation rate applies to this school. AP coursework, dual-credit pathways, and other secondary program data are not relevant here and were not available in the provided data.

Program offerings specific to Grady were not included in what was provided, so specifics about enrichment, arts, or support structures at the school level were left out rather than guessed.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 349%

School 49% · District 49%

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

Grade 468%

School 68% · District 68% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▲ 10 pts above state median · even with county median

Grade 568%

School 68% · District 68%

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

Grade 673%

School 73% · District 73%

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

English language arts

Grade 342%

School 42% · District 42%

▼ 10 pts below state median · ▼ 14 pts below county median

Grade 465%

School 65% · District 65% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▲ 13 pts above state median · ▲ 4 pts above county median

Grade 574%

School 74% · District 74%

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

Grade 670%

School 70% · District 70%

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

Science

Grade 558%

School 58% · District 58%

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

Social studies

Grade 591%

School 91% · district not reported

even with state median · ▼ 5 pts below county median

This schoolELMSFORD 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-income38%Higher-income46%9 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income57%Higher-income76%19 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income69%Higher-income78%8 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income60%Higher-income80%20 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income47%Higher-income51%5 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income67%Higher-income69%2 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income51%Higher-income81%30 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income65%Higher-income80%15 pp gap