Nathaniel Woodhull Elementary School, Shirley NY

Original Research by School Decision on Nathaniel Woodhull Elementary School

Nathaniel Woodhull Elementary serves kindergarten through fifth grade in Shirley, a car-dependent residential hamlet on Long Island's South Shore. The school sits within the William Floyd Union Free School District, which voters approved a major facilities capital improvement project in March 2025 at no additional tax cost to residents, funded through state aid and existing capital reserves. The district has held or reduced taxes in four of the past six years, a factor worth noting for families evaluating Long Island housing costs.

Shirley itself is a modest, postwar suburban community built around affordable housing ideals, with single-family homes predominating and newer development scattered throughout. The area is oriented to strip retail and chain stores along Montauk Highway rather than a traditional walkable downtown. Median home values in the area are in the mid-range for the county, with recent year-over-year appreciation. The Mastics-Moriches-Shirley Community Library is a major civic anchor, and Smith Point County Park on Fire Island provides beach access. The hamlet is served by LIRR and local bus transit.

The school enrollment is stable at around medium size for the grade span, with just over half the student body qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch. The student population is diverse: roughly half identify as Hispanic, just under a third as white, about one in nine as Black, with smaller Asian and multiracial populations and a very small number of Native American and Pacific Islander students. Specific counts for students with IEPs or English learners were not available in the data.

Academically, Nathaniel Woodhull's state test results show proficiency rates that sit below the midpoint among Suffolk County school districts overall. In math, proficiency across third through fifth grades ranges from just under a quarter of students at grade three to about two in five at grade four; fifth grade sits between those marks. English language arts shows more variability, with fifth grade at about half proficient and third and fourth grades in the mid-to-upper 30s. Science proficiency for fifth grade, the only grade tested, is near a third. A social studies result from 2009-10 is in the data but too distant to characterize current performance. Test participation rates are strong across the board, running in the low to mid-90s.

A parent may want to look into what instructional supports the school and district offer, particularly for students working below proficiency, and what the trajectory of results has been over recent years. The state assessment data available does not provide year-to-year trend information, so a conversation with the school about academic programming and student growth would be valuable for families deciding whether this fits their child's needs.

Beginning September 2025, the district implemented a distraction-free schools policy with bell-to-bell restrictions on student internet-enabled devices, in line with new New York state law. This affects daily classroom life across all buildings.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 326%

School 26% · District 42% · ▼ 17 pts below district

▼ 33 pts below state median · ▼ 31 pts below county median

Grade 443%

School 43% · District 54% · ▼ 10 pts below district

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

Grade 538%

School 38% · District 47% · ▼ 9 pts below district

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

English language arts

Grade 334%

School 34% · District 44% · ▼ 9 pts below district

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

Grade 439%

School 39% · District 46% · ▼ 7 pts below district

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

Grade 552%

School 52% · District 49% · ▲ 2 pts above district

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

Science

Grade 534%

School 34% · District 34%

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

Social studies

Grade 597%

School 97% · district not reported

▲ 5 pts above state median · even with county median

This schoolWILLIAM FLOYD UNION FREE 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-income29%Higher-income45%16 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income29%Higher-income52%23 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income47%Higher-income61%14 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income20%Higher-income37%18 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income39%Higher-income49%10 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income33%Higher-income46%13 pp gap