The top reported proficiency rate is 48% in Science. The lowest is 22% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Clinton V Bush Elementary School
Clinton V. Bush Elementary sits on Pardee Avenue in Jamestown, serving children from pre-kindergarten through fourth grade within the Jamestown City School District. It is a small-to-mid-sized elementary school for its grade band, nested in a postindustrial city that functions as the urban hub of Chautauqua County in New York's Southern Tier.
The school's state assessment results, reported through New York's testing program for third and fourth graders, tell a candid story. Math proficiency in both tested grades sits well below the midpoint, and ELA proficiency in third grade is lower still, with fourth-grade ELA showing a somewhat stronger result but still reaching only a minority of students. The school's overall proficiency index places it in the bottom quartile relative to districts in Chautauqua County. Science data from a prior year was the only science result available and showed roughly half of fourth graders meeting proficiency, which was the strongest single figure in the dataset, though its age makes direct comparisons difficult. A parent would be wise to ask the school directly about where children who arrive below grade level are given targeted support, and what early intervention looks like in practice.
A substantial share of enrolled students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, placing the school firmly in the high-need category. The student body is predominantly white, with Hispanic students making up a sizable share and smaller representations of Black students and those identifying as two or more races. Data on English learner rates and students with IEPs was not reported in the available materials, so families with children in either population should ask the school about its specific service structures.
One genuinely relevant development at the district level: Jamestown adopted a new K-8 literacy curriculum in 2023, publicly reported as aligned to New York's Science of Reading initiative, with an early-grades emphasis on phonemic awareness and phonics. For a school where reading proficiency is currently low, this curriculum shift is worth understanding in more depth. Parents arriving now are entering mid-implementation, and asking teachers how the new approach is working in specific classrooms is a reasonable first step.
Also worth noting for daily school life: starting fall 2025, the district follows New York's bell-to-bell personal device restriction, meaning smartphones and similar devices are put away from arrival through dismissal, including lunch and recess. This applies across all Jamestown schools.
The city itself provides context. Jamestown is a compact, historically layered city whose commercial and civic core sits in the river valley, with residential neighborhoods climbing steep hills to the north and south. Most residents rent. The local economy rests on manufacturing anchors, a significant healthcare sector, and institutional employers including the school district itself. The city's trajectory is one of deliberate reinvestment rather than population growth: publicly reported projects include riverfront revitalization, mixed-use redevelopment of vacant buildings, and an affordable housing initiative. Home values here are well below both state and national benchmarks, making the area among the more affordable entry points in New York, and the Chautauqua County market has seen active listings rise sharply over the past year.
Families weighing property taxes should know that a district capital improvement project approved by voters in late 2023 will affect local property taxes over the life of its multi-year construction phases, which run through at least 2027. The annual operating budget has carried minimal levy increases and earned strong voter approval, but the capital project is a separate and more direct tax impact.
No program or course-access data was available for Clinton V. Bush specifically. No chronic absenteeism data was included in the available materials, which is a gap worth raising with the school given the documented connection between attendance and early reading outcomes.
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