Gidney Avenue Memorial School, Newburgh NY

Original Research by School Decision on Gidney Avenue Memorial School

Gidney Avenue Memorial School serves children from pre-kindergarten through fifth grade in Newburgh, a city that has been rebuilding its downtown and waterfront with significant state investment. The school enrolls around eight hundred students, with a substantial share qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch and a student body that is predominantly Hispanic with a meaningful Black population and smaller numbers of white and multiracial students.

The school's academic profile shows low state assessment performance. In the most recent testing window, proficiency rates ranged from about one in seven third graders meeting the standard in English language arts to around four in ten fifth graders in math. Science and English language arts at the upper elementary level sit in the low-to-mid thirties as percentages. The fifth-grade math result, approaching four in ten, is the strongest result on the books. When the school is positioned against other districts in Orange County, its overall proficiency index places it in the bottom quartile. Parents looking at this school will want to understand what teaching and support structures are in place, what accountability or improvement initiatives the district is undertaking, and whether the school offers particular strengths in early literacy, language development for multilingual learners, or targeted intervention work that the state numbers alone would not reveal. A parent may want to discuss these results directly with school leadership.

The Newburgh City School District, which operates the school, faces real fiscal pressure. The district has been reducing staff positions substantially over recent years, and the 2026-27 budget would eliminate teaching positions, early elementary assistant positions, and an assistant superintendent role. A February 2026 state comptroller audit found significant weaknesses in the district's financial management, including roughly thirty-five million dollars in variances between budgets presented to taxpayers and actual results over a two-year span. The district adopted a Corrective Action Plan in response. On the positive side, tax levies have been held relatively flat for a sustained period, which directly affects what homeowners pay. The district is also undertaking a substantial capital upgrade: a new career and technical education center at the high school, funded through a voter-approved bond, broke ground in fall 2024 and is expected to open in summer 2026, expanding hands-on program options for older students.

Newburgh itself is a city in transition. Historic industrial space and warehouse properties have drawn artists and entrepreneurs, and the waterfront and Broadway corridor are anchoring a growing restaurant, art, and retail presence. The city has received major state funding for mixed-income housing, infrastructure, and a planned deep-water port project. Downing Park, designed by Olmsted and Vaux, sits in the heart of the city, and a waterfront trail and restored civic anchors are drawing residents and visitors. The median home value in the zip code is modest relative to state benchmarks, and rents are similarly lower, meaning housing costs are less severe than in much of the surrounding region. About a third of the population lives below the poverty line, and that context shows in the school's enrollment composition.

The neighborhood around Gidney Avenue would be worth visiting. Direct information on whether the school building sits within walkable access to the downtown, transit, or community facilities was not available in this research. Families considering this school should explore the school's own improvement efforts, the district's response to the recent audit findings, and what kind of one-on-one or small-group support is available for students working below grade level.

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Academic performance

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

Advanced Placement & IB

4 subjects offered · 2023-24

Each card is one AP or IB subject. The headline number is the share of students scoring 3 or higher on the exam — the threshold for college credit at most universities. The bar below each rate shows the underlying distribution across performance levels.

Score:12· no credit345· extremely well qualified

Math and Computer Science

Computer Science A

1 tested · HS

0.0%

scored 3 or higher

History and Social Sciences

Macroeconomics

1 tested · HS

0.0%

scored 3 or higher

Other

Language and Comp

1 tested · HS

0.0%

scored 3 or higher

U S Government and Politics

1 tested · HS

0.0%

scored 3 or higher

Math

Grade 327%

School 27% · District 39% · ▼ 11 pts below district

▼ 31 pts below state median · ▼ 27 pts below county median

Grade 424%

School 24% · District 42% · ▼ 18 pts below district

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

Grade 543%

School 43% · District 48% · ▼ 5 pts below district

▼ 8 pts below state median · ▼ 5 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 314%

School 14% · District 34% · ▼ 20 pts below district

▼ 38 pts below state median · ▼ 35 pts below county median

Grade 429%

School 29% · District 40% · ▼ 11 pts below district

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

Grade 539%

School 39% · District 48% · ▼ 9 pts below district

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

Science

Grade 528%

School 28% · District 34% · ▼ 6 pts below district

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

Social studies

Grade 584%

School 84% · district not reported

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

This schoolNEWBURGH CITY 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-income13%Higher-income17%4 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income30%Higher-income28%2 pp gap

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

Grade 6Lower-income8%Higher-income29%21 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income18%Higher-income33%15 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income20%Higher-income33%13 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income28%Higher-income27%1 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income25%Higher-income24%1 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income46%Higher-income40%6 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income23%Higher-income43%20 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income2%Higher-income20%18 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income4%Higher-income0%4 pp gap