Caroline G Atkinson School, Freeport NY

Original Research by School Decision on Caroline G Atkinson School

Caroline G. Atkinson is a middle school serving grades five and six in Freeport, a densely populated, highly diverse village on Long Island's South Shore. The school sits at the entry point to secondary education, catching students at the transition from elementary into the middle grades, when academic rigor deepens and peer dynamics shift.

The enrollment picture shows a school of moderate size for its grade band, with a student body that mirrors Freeport's demographic composition closely. More than half the students qualify for free or reduced price lunch, a proxy for economic need. The vast majority of the school is Hispanic or Black, with very small shares of white, Asian, and multiracial students. This is a school serving a community where economic and racial complexity intersect; family income tends to cluster in the lower to moderate range for the region.

On state testing in math, the results sit below the county median. In grade five, fewer than four in ten students scored at proficiency on the math exam, and in grade six, the number reaches just under half. English language arts proficiency is similar: fewer than half of grade-five students and fewer than four in ten grade-six students met the proficiency bar. Science proficiency in grade five fell notably lower, with about one in four students proficient. The school did not report data for grade seven, which is not grade-banded here; Caroline G. Atkinson serves only through grade six.

The data reveal a school where state proficiency across tested areas trails the midpoint among Nassau County districts, placing it in the bottom quartile by the county comparison measure. Parents accustomed to stronger test-score performance elsewhere in the county may want to look into the school's remediation and enrichment strategies, class size, and staff expertise in literacy and numeracy directly with the school. The causes of lower attainment are not specified in the available data; factors can range from student entry-level preparation, instructional approach, and resource allocation to peer composition and family engagement patterns.

Freeport itself is a village in transition. Its housing market is active, with inventory and pricing rising modestly, though much of the housing stock dates to midcentury or earlier. The community has pursued downtown revitalization around the Long Island Rail Road station and the Nautical Mile waterfront, anchoring civic life around walkable areas rather than dispersed campuses. The village's population has held roughly steady or declined slightly in recent years, suggesting neither rapid growth nor serious shrinkage, but rather a place where demographic and economic forces are in balance.

The parent district, Freeport Union Free School District, has controlled property taxes stringently, holding or reducing the levy for a decade, a priority some families value highly. The district has also expanded high school course offerings in recent years, adding computer science, cybersecurity, American Sign Language, and advanced STEM pathways, along with maintaining a broad AP catalog. These moves signal a district working to broaden academic access, though they affect the high school, not this middle school directly.

Caroline G. Atkinson is a school where modest state testing performance sits alongside demographic and economic realities of a working-class, immigrant-heavy community. Families considering enrollment should weigh the academic environment alongside the school's specific supports for literacy, math skill-building, and student motivation. The school and district are part of a place with strong roots in maritime heritage and a stated commitment to walkable, transit-oriented renewal.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 538%

School 38% · District 38%

▼ 13 pts below state median · ▼ 34 pts below county median

Grade 647%

School 47% · District 47%

▲ 2 pts above state median · ▼ 23 pts below county median

Grade 70%

School 0% · District 48% · ▼ 48 pts below district

▼ 53 pts below state median · ▼ 68 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 546%

School 46% · District 46%

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

Grade 640%

School 40% · District 39%

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

Grade 70%

School 0% · District 39% · ▼ 39 pts below district

▼ 47 pts below state median · ▼ 59 pts below county median

Science

Grade 527%

School 27% · District 27%

▼ 15 pts below state median · ▼ 34 pts below county median

Social studies

Grade 592%

School 92% · district not reported

even with state median · ▼ 6 pts below county median

This schoolFREEPORT 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 5Lower-income45%Higher-income48%2 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income34%Higher-income51%17 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 5Lower-income34%Higher-income50%16 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income43%Higher-income54%11 pp gap