Madison Elementary School, Massena NY

Original Research by School Decision on Madison Elementary School

Madison Elementary serves the early grades through sixth grade in Massena, a working-class border town in the North Country that has moved through industrial decline and is now rebuilding around downtown revitalization and data-center development. The school enrolls a small-to-mid-sized population with substantial socioeconomic diversity. Just over half of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, and the enrollment is predominantly white but includes a meaningful Native American population as well as smaller shares of Black, Hispanic, and multiracial students. The school has no meaningful racial or ethnic isolation by the enrollment numbers, though the broader Massena area remains predominantly white.

State test results show proficiency that sits below the midpoint among districts in St. Lawrence County across tested subjects and grades. In math, third-grade students showed the strongest performance; proficiency drops notably by fourth and fifth grades and recovers somewhat by sixth. In English language arts, proficiency is lower still, with third grade at about half of students meeting the standard and later grades ranging from roughly one-third to four-fifths of students. Science results, available for fifth grade, show the lowest attainment of any subject tested. These patterns suggest the school faces meaningful academic challenges, particularly in the upper elementary grades and in science. A parent may want to explore with the school what instructional supports are in place for students not meeting standards and whether the incoming capital project (described below) includes plans to strengthen these areas.

The district's May 2025 capital project approval brings a major facility overhaul running through 2029, with work touching all three elementary schools including Madison. The project is tax-neutral because state building aid and a capital reserve fund cover the costs without a local property-tax increase, a financial structure that removes a typical barrier to facility investment. However, alongside this infrastructure work, the district is studying a realignment of its three neighborhood elementary schools into a grade-level model for the 2027-28 school year. If implemented, this would change which school a child attends based on grade rather than address, a structural change that would affect family placement and school composition. District officials plan community forums and a recommendation in early 2027, so families should expect this conversation to unfold publicly over the next year or so.

Massena itself is a town of middle income and modest growth within a post-industrial landscape. Housing values are stable and affordable by regional standards. The dominant employer remains Alcoa's smelter, now stabilized under a 2025 energy agreement securing roughly five hundred jobs and investment over the decade. A growing employer is North County Colocation Services, a data-center and cryptocurrency operation expanding on a former industrial site and expected to become a major tax revenue source. The town has won state downtown revitalization funding, with projects underway to enhance streetscape, add a riverwalk, and repurpose vacant buildings for mixed residential and retail use. Public transit exists but is limited; driving is essential for most daily tasks. The school sits in a community actively rebuilding but still working through the economic transition from its industrial peak.

Madison is a regular public school with no special program focus or alternative structure. Course access and staffing details were not available in the provided data. The school appears to serve as a traditional neighborhood elementary, though that designation may shift if the grade-level realignment moves forward.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 371%

School 71% · District 70%

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

Grade 440%

School 40% · District 60% · ▼ 20 pts below district

▼ 18 pts below state median · ▼ 15 pts below county median

Grade 531%

School 31% · District 47% · ▼ 17 pts below district

▼ 21 pts below state median · ▼ 7 pts below county median

Grade 644%

School 44% · District 62% · ▼ 18 pts below district

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

English language arts

Grade 350%

School 50% · District 56% · ▼ 5 pts below district

▼ 2 pts below state median · ▲ 2 pts above county median

Grade 437%

School 37% · District 52% · ▼ 16 pts below district

▼ 16 pts below state median · ▼ 9 pts below county median

Grade 541%

School 41% · District 53% · ▼ 12 pts below district

▼ 13 pts below state median · ▼ 12 pts below county median

Grade 635%

School 35% · District 47% · ▼ 12 pts below district

▼ 11 pts below state median · ▼ 11 pts below county median

Science

Grade 521%

School 21% · District 40% · ▼ 19 pts below district

▼ 21 pts below state median · ▼ 20 pts below county median

Social studies

Grade 579%

School 79% · district not reported

▼ 12 pts below state median · ▼ 8 pts below county median

This schoolMASSENA 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-income46%Higher-income61%16 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income33%Higher-income50%17 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income40%Higher-income44%4 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income22%Higher-income77%55 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income64%Higher-income88%25 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income31%Higher-income75%44 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income28%Higher-income35%7 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income35%Higher-income77%42 pp gap