Altamont Elementary School, Altamont NY

Original Research by School Decision on Altamont Elementary School

Altamont Elementary School serves kindergarten through fifth grade in the village of Altamont, a small, historically rooted community in Albany County at the foot of the Helderberg Escarpment. The school sits integrated into the village's downtown fabric rather than on a distant campus, which roots it in Altamont's walkable, Main Street-centered civic life alongside the library, parks, and municipal offices. The enrollment is compact, a few over three hundred students. About one quarter of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch; the school is predominantly white, with meaningful representation of Asian students and smaller populations of Hispanic, Black, and multiracial children.

The school's academic profile shows clear strength in the lower grades and a taper as students advance. In grade three, proficiency in math stands above nine in ten students, and in English language arts about eight in ten meet the state standard. By grade four, math proficiency holds firm at roughly seven in ten students, though ELA drops slightly below that threshold. At grade five, the drop sharpens: just under seven in ten students reach proficiency in ELA, and about two-thirds do so in math. In science at the fifth grade, fewer than half meet the state benchmark.

These results place the school in the top quartile for overall proficiency among Albany County's tested schools. However, parents should recognize the grade-by-grade pattern. Altamont Elementary delivers solid early elementary literacy and mathematics grounding, but performance softens considerably in fifth grade across all subjects, and especially in science. This trajectory suggests a parent may want to look into further with the school how instruction shifts in the upper grades and what support is available for students who struggle with the increased complexity of grade five.

The district context matters here. Guilderland Central School District has recently passed two capital referenda, the second approved in May 2025, that will modernize all seven buildings, including Altamont Elementary, with updated classroom technology, enhanced safety systems, and specialized instructional space. These improvements will roll out over the next several years and represent concrete investment in facilities. The district has also maintained steady, modest annual property-tax levy increases in recent years, each within the state cap, a pattern families relocating to the area should factor into their housing calculations.

The community itself is small, walkable in its core, and oriented toward family life rather than growth. Civic anchors include the Altamont Free Library in the historic train station on Main Street, parks with programming, and the Altamont Fairgrounds. The village has pursued downtown revitalization rather than new subdivision development. Housing values suggest affordability within the county context, and the area retains a close-knit, slower-paced character. Altamont Elementary sits squarely within this setting, serving as a neighborhood anchor rather than a large institutional presence. For families drawn to a small, walkable, established community with a functional elementary school and solid early-grade instruction, it fits well. The grade five transition may warrant advance planning and conversations with the school about support structures.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 394%

School 94% · District 76% · ▲ 18 pts above district

▲ 35 pts above state median · ▲ 29 pts above county median

Grade 487%

School 87% · District 77% · ▲ 10 pts above district

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

Grade 568%

School 68% · District 65% · ▲ 3 pts above district

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

English language arts

Grade 379%

School 79% · District 69% · ▲ 10 pts above district

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

Grade 482%

School 82% · District 68% · ▲ 14 pts above district

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

Grade 561%

School 61% · District 70% · ▼ 9 pts below district

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

Science

Grade 546%

School 46% · District 56% · ▼ 9 pts below district

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

Social studies

Grade 5100%

School 100% · district not reported

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

This schoolGUILDERLAND 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-income60%Higher-income84%24 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income67%Higher-income88%21 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income33%Higher-income72%39 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income89%Higher-income95%6 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income85%Higher-income88%3 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income50%Higher-income75%25 pp gap