Holland Patent Elementary School, Holland Patent NY

Original Research by School Decision on Holland Patent Elementary School

Holland Patent Elementary School serves a small rural village in Oneida County, teaching grades three through five to a student body of roughly two hundred students. The school is part of Holland Patent Central School District, which operates across a multitown service area and has made recent facility investments, including building renovations and infrastructure upgrades approved by voters.

The enrollment is almost entirely white, and reflects the demographic homogeneity of the surrounding community. A meaningful share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, placing a substantial portion of the school's population in lower-income households despite the district's rural character.

State assessment results from the school year ending in 2025 show mixed performance. In mathematics, proficiency across the three grades assessed ranges from about half to slightly over three-fifths of students meeting the standard. Grade three performs strongest in math, while proficiency drops in grades four and five. English language arts proficiency is more uneven: grade three reaches nearly three-fifths proficiency, but grade four drops to a lower level before recovering somewhat in grade five. Science proficiency at grade five sits around three-fifths. Overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades places the school in the top quartile relative to other districts in Oneida County, a meaningful strength.

One notable feature of the assessment data is variation in test participation rates, particularly in grades four and five, where participation dips below the full cohort. This may reflect a small total enrollment or may warrant a conversation with the school about whether all students are being tested when assessments are administered. The school uses the New York State Testing Program (NYSTP) in these grades.

The community context is a very small historic rural village, population under two thousand, organized around a National Register public square on Main Street. The broader district serves residential areas that feed toward employment centers in Utica and Rome. Housing values in the area sit below state and national benchmarks, and owner-occupied homes remain the predominant housing stock. The village itself has experienced slow population decline over recent decades and skews older in age. Schools sit on campuses outside the downtown core rather than integrated into the walkable Main Street area.

The district has undertaken substantial capital investments in the past few years, with a voter-approved project that rebuilt athletic facilities and funded interior renovations across the school buildings. A new capital project was also approved in 2026, signaling ongoing commitment to facilities. These tangible investments are visible to families considering the district.

For a family in or relocating to this area, Holland Patent Elementary offers a small-school environment in a historic, tight-knit rural setting with assessment results that outperform the county average. The school serves a lower-income population and spans only three grades, placing it squarely in an elementary role without middle or high school preparation in-building. Parents would want to understand the transition pathway to the district's middle and high schools and to ask the school directly about the reasons for test participation variation, particularly in the upper elementary grades.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 362%

School 62% · District 62% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▲ 3 pts above state median · ▲ 11 pts above county median

Grade 454%

School 54% · District 54%

▼ 4 pts below state median · ▲ 6 pts above county median

Grade 552%

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

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

English language arts

Grade 360%

School 60% · District 59% · ▲ 1 pts above district

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

Grade 440%

School 40% · District 40% · ▲ 1 pts above district

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

Grade 556%

School 56% · District 55% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▲ 2 pts above state median · ▲ 9 pts above county median

Science

Grade 560%

School 60% · District 59% · ▲ 1 pts above district

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

Social studies

Grade 597%

School 97% · district not reported

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

This schoolHOLLAND PATENT 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-income37%Higher-income71%34 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income26%Higher-income48%22 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income39%Higher-income63%24 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income48%Higher-income69%21 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income44%Higher-income60%15 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income27%Higher-income59%32 pp gap