Paumanok Elementary School, Dix Hills NY

Original Research by School Decision on Paumanok Elementary School

Paumanok Elementary is a regular public school serving kindergarten through fifth grade in Dix Hills, a built-out, affluent residential suburb on Long Island's North Shore. The school sits in the Half Hollow Hills Central School District and enrolls students from a demographically mixed community where housing values are high and most families commute to work by car.

The school is of modest size for its grade band, with enrollment concentrated in the primary and intermediate grades. Roughly a quarter of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, suggesting a range of family incomes within the broader affluent area. The student body is racially and ethnically diverse: roughly a third identify as white, a quarter as Asian, a fifth as Hispanic, and about a sixth as Black, with a small share identifying as multiracial. The specific counts for students with disabilities and English learners were not available.

In math, third through fifth graders show mixed but generally solid proficiency. Fourth grade performs strongest, with nearly nine in ten students proficient or above. Third grade sits at about four in five, and fifth grade slightly below that. In English language arts, proficiency runs roughly in line, ranging from three-quarters to three-quarters across grades three through five. Fifth grade science proficiency is around three-quarters. These results place the school in the top quartile among Suffolk County districts when averaged across tested subjects and grades, an indicator of above-median performance among its neighbors.

No state testing data exists for sixth grade because the school's charter ends at fifth grade; it does not serve middle school. A single social studies result from 2009-2010 (the most recent available) showed nearly universal proficiency in fifth grade at that time, though this measure is no longer administered at elementary grades statewide.

Dix Hills itself is a car-dependent suburban hamlet with no downtown center and little street-level commercial life. Residents orient toward Huntington for shopping and dining. The built environment is defined by spacious residential lots and mature trees; the Long Island Expressway and Northern State Parkway bisect the area. The civic anchors are scattered along corridors: the Half Hollow Hills Community Library (with a new building at Vanderbilt Parkway), Dix Hills Park (which includes an outdoor pool, ice rink, golf course, trails, and performance venue), and Five Towns College. Housing is predominantly owner-occupied, with a mix of estates, renovated colonials, and newer Toll Brothers-built single-family homes. Home values and rents are high relative to the state and nation. The area remains materially built-out; new growth is mainly high-end infill and subdivision construction. The adjacent Melville corridor along Route 110 is the region's major employment hub.

The Half Hollow Hills district is pursuing a debt-reduction strategy, with a stated goal to become debt-free by the end of 2026-2027. Voters approved capital reserve funds in 2022 (for roof replacement) and again in 2024 (for building improvements), allowing the district to fund facility work from accumulated reserves rather than borrowing. This approach shapes the district's long-term tax outlook and reflects a commitment to deferred maintenance paid from savings.

A parent considering Paumanok should understand it as a neighborhood elementary school in an affluent, mature suburb with above-county-average academic proficiency, a mixed and diverse student body, and a car-oriented residential setting with limited walkability. The school feeds into Half Hollow Hills' middle and high schools. State testing data was not available for the fourth and fifth grade cohorts on social studies, and enrollment counts for special education and English learner populations were not provided; a parent may want to follow up with the school on these specifics.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 383%

School 83% · District 80% · ▲ 3 pts above district

▲ 24 pts above state median · ▲ 26 pts above county median

Grade 490%

School 90% · District 74% · ▲ 15 pts above district

▲ 32 pts above state median · ▲ 33 pts above county median

Grade 578%

School 78% · District 75% · ▲ 3 pts above district

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

Grade 60%

School 0% · District 73% · ▼ 72 pts below district

▼ 45 pts below state median · ▼ 46 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 377%

School 77% · District 67% · ▲ 11 pts above district

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

Grade 475%

School 75% · District 68% · ▲ 7 pts above district

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

Grade 577%

School 77% · District 76% · ▲ 1 pts above district

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

Grade 60%

School 0% · District 64% · ▼ 64 pts below district

▼ 46 pts below state median · ▼ 45 pts below county median

Science

Grade 573%

School 73% · District 67% · ▲ 6 pts above district

▲ 32 pts above state median · ▲ 33 pts above county median

Social studies

Grade 599%

School 99% · district not reported

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

This schoolHALF HOLLOW HILLS 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-income61%Higher-income81%20 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income69%Higher-income77%8 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income67%Higher-income81%15 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income74%Higher-income85%11 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income88%Higher-income91%3 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income60%Higher-income86%26 pp gap