Grimes School, Mount Vernon NY - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Grimes School

Grimes School is a kindergarten-through-eighth-grade public school in Mount Vernon, a dense inner-ring suburb on the southern edge of Westchester County, directly north of the Bronx. The school sits on South 10th Avenue and is part of the Mount Vernon City School District.

Mount Vernon itself is one of the most densely populated cities in New York State. Its downtown, publicly reported as one of the largest business districts in Westchester County, is built around two Metro-North commuter rail lines with express service to Midtown Manhattan in under half an hour. The city is highly walkable, with transit accessible to nearly every resident within a short walk. Neighborhoods on the north side feature prewar colonials and Tudor homes clustered around the Fleetwood station, while the south side carries a more active commercial character. The city has a strong Afro-Caribbean and Latino cultural presence expressed through food, music, and festivals. Mount Vernon is in an active development phase: a Downtown Vision Report adopted in early 2025 covers roughly 50 blocks, and several transit-oriented housing projects ranging from affordable mixed-income complexes to a Passive House high-rise are in progress or recently completed.

The student body at Grimes is predominantly Black and Hispanic, with those two groups together accounting for the very large majority of enrollment. The school enrolls a modest total across its nine grade levels. Free and reduced-price lunch data and English learner and IEP rates were not available in the data provided.

State assessment results from New York's grade-level tests give a mixed picture. In English language arts, performance varies meaningfully by grade. Third and fifth grade ELA results land in the upper-forties range, seventh and eighth grade results are at or above the halfway mark, and fourth and sixth grade results are softer, with sixth grade notably lower. In math, third and fifth grade results are around the halfway mark, which is roughly on par with the ELA pattern, but fourth, sixth, and seventh grade math proficiency falls into the lower third of students tested, and eighth grade math proficiency is very low, with only a small fraction of students reaching the proficient threshold. Science results at the two tested grade levels, fifth and eighth, sit in the mid-to-upper thirties and mid-twenties respectively. Placed against all districts in Westchester County, the school's overall proficiency index sits in the bottom quartile of that set. Parents considering Grimes may want to ask the school directly about supports available for students who are not yet meeting grade-level standards, particularly in upper-grade mathematics.

The district context matters here. Mount Vernon City School District has carried a state designation of significant fiscal stress for six consecutive years and has run operating deficits for most of those years. In early 2025, the board approved a reorganization that closed three schools and consolidated the district into four K-8 buildings, driven by declining enrollment and expensive building repairs. A proposed budget for the coming school year was rejected by voters in May 2026, which publicly reported sources note can lead to restrictions on after-school programs, hiring freezes, and delayed facility work. These are conditions a parent should weigh actively.

On the other end of the district's academic pathway, Mount Vernon High School earned International Baccalaureate designation, publicly reported as occurring in 2020, and the district offers families a choice among three high schools with distinct focuses: one centered on humanities and career-technical programs with IB, one built around STEAM, and one for performing and visual arts. That breadth of high school choice is a genuine strength for students who arrive ready to pursue it.

Housing in the ZIP code surrounding Grimes reflects Westchester County's broader premium market. Typical home values sit well above the statewide median and considerably above the national median, though still below the county-wide median listing price. Rents run at a level that publicly reported affordability data suggests is a meaningful share of a typical household's income. The county market has seen a meaningful year-over-year drop in new listings, which is keeping supply tight even as demand has risen.

Chronic absenteeism data and a graduation rate for the school were not available; those measures either do not apply at the K-8 level or were not reported in the data provided.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 350%

School 50% · District 42% · ▲ 8 pts above district

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

Grade 428%

School 28% · District 47% · ▼ 19 pts below district

▼ 30 pts below state median · ▼ 41 pts below county median

Grade 553%

School 53% · District 39% · ▲ 14 pts above district

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

Grade 630%

School 30% · District 41% · ▼ 11 pts below district

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

Grade 736%

School 36% · District 41% · ▼ 5 pts below district

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

Grade 89%

School 9% · District 27% · ▼ 19 pts below district

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

English language arts

Grade 344%

School 44% · District 41% · ▲ 4 pts above district

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

Grade 431%

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

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

Grade 548%

School 48% · District 43% · ▲ 6 pts above district

▼ 6 pts below state median · ▼ 17 pts below county median

Grade 620%

School 20% · District 39% · ▼ 19 pts below district

▼ 26 pts below state median · ▼ 28 pts below county median

Grade 757%

School 57% · District 45% · ▲ 12 pts above district

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

Grade 853%

School 53% · District 53%

▲ 5 pts above state median · even with county median

Science

Grade 539%

School 39% · District 33% · ▲ 6 pts above district

▼ 3 pts below state median · ▼ 10 pts below county median

Grade 825%

School 25% · District 32% · ▼ 7 pts below district

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

Social studies

Grade 590%

School 90% · district not reported

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

This schoolMOUNT VERNON 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 4Lower-income28%Higher-income36%8 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income22%Higher-income14%8 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income50%Higher-income67%17 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income55%Higher-income50%5 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 4Lower-income32%Higher-income18%14 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income56%Higher-income40%16 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income33%Higher-income21%12 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income31%Higher-income42%10 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income14%Higher-income0%14 pp gap