Robert H Jackson Elementary School, Frewsburg NY

Original Research by School Decision on Robert H Jackson Elementary School

Robert H Jackson Elementary School in Frewsburg is a small pre-K through sixth-grade school serving a rural community in southeastern Chautauqua County. The school sits on a shared campus with the district's middle and high school in a setting where essential civic anchors—the post office, Myers Memorial Library, and town offices—cluster within the hamlet's walkable Main Street core. Most families commute to employment in nearby Jamestown or Warren, Pennsylvania.

The school enrolls a modest population, predominantly white and largely from the local area. About two out of every five students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a meaningful proportion reflecting mixed economic circumstances across the district's service area. The school draws from a housing market where median home values are modest relative to state benchmarks, and residential development activity has picked up in recent years with new subdivisions, though the population remains roughly flat.

In state math assessments, the school shows a clear grade-level pattern. Third graders score above the midpoint among Chautauqua County's schools; fourth graders are close to the midpoint; by fifth and sixth grade, proficiency falls noticeably below the midpoint. In English language arts, the pattern is similar: third graders score above the county midpoint, while fourth through sixth graders cluster below it. Fifth-grade science proficiency also sits below the county midpoint. The school's overall proficiency index across tested subjects and grades places it in the top quartile of county schools, a strength; however, a parent examining the data grade by grade would see that proficiency weakens as students move through the upper elementary years. This pattern might reflect curriculum challenges at those levels, shifts in student cohorts, or both—a parent may want to look into this further with the school to understand what drives the decline and what intervention or support is in place.

The district has invested substantially in the school's physical plant. Voters approved a major capital project in December 2023, funding renovations to instructional spaces, science rooms, kitchen and electrical upgrades at the elementary building, and construction of a new athletic complex with a track and renovated fields, phased through 2026. That represents a lasting commitment to facility quality that families consider when choosing a school location.

The 2026-27 budget tells a tighter fiscal story. The district eliminated roughly a dozen staff positions—an assistant principal, two special education teachers, a secondary math teacher, three teacher aides, a cleaner, and a part-time secretary—to balance a budget stretched by rising health insurance costs and limited state aid. These staffing cuts could affect class sizes, special education capacity, and ancillary support. The tax levy is also rising modestly year to year, an ongoing cost pressure on local property owners that prospective residents should factor into housing economics.

The school's peer environment is small, stable, and locally rooted. It lacks data on enrollment in special education or English language learner services, so a family with those needs would want to ask the district directly. With no reported chronic absenteeism data, the school's attendance patterns are not yet visible in the available record. The district's website and the school's location suggest a traditional public-school model with an emphasis on community ties rather than specialized programming or alternative pedagogy.

For families drawn to a small, rural school with modest facilities and an improving infrastructure base, a stable local community, and above-average performance at the third-grade level, this is a reasonable option. For families whose children struggle with transitions or need sustained intervention through the upper elementary years, or whose children need specialized services, the pattern in the data warrants closer conversation with school leadership before enrollment.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 369%

School 69% · District 69%

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

Grade 465%

School 65% · District 64% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▲ 7 pts above state median · ▲ 18 pts above county median

Grade 552%

School 52% · District 51% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▲ 1 pts above state median · ▲ 12 pts above county median

Grade 646%

School 46% · District 45% · ▲ 1 pts above district

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

English language arts

Grade 354%

School 54% · District 54%

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

Grade 445%

School 45% · District 44% · ▲ 1 pts above district

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

Grade 562%

School 62% · District 63% · ▼ 1 pts below district

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

Grade 643%

School 43% · District 42% · ▲ 1 pts above district

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

Science

Grade 538%

School 38% · District 39% · ▼ 1 pts below district

▼ 4 pts below state median · ▼ 5 pts below county median

Social studies

Grade 589%

School 89% · district not reported

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

This schoolFREWSBURG 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-income33%Higher-income64%31 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income43%Higher-income47%4 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income50%Higher-income77%27 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income32%Higher-income52%20 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income61%Higher-income72%11 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income60%Higher-income74%14 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income37%Higher-income71%34 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income32%Higher-income57%25 pp gap