The top reported proficiency rate is 100% in Social studies. The lowest is 91% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Colonial School
Colonial School serves kindergarten through fifth grade in Pelham, a compact, tree-lined residential suburb in southern Westchester County. The school sits within a built-out, high-demand community where single-family homes dominate and the layout is walkable around a downtown core near the Metro-North station. Housing values are substantial and appreciating; the rental market is correspondingly tight. The town itself is largely a commuter community with no major single employer, relying on small independent businesses and institutional anchors like the schools, library, and public parks.
Colonial's enrollment is small, around that typical for an elementary school in an affluent suburb, and the student body is predominantly white, with smaller shares of Asian, multiracial, and Hispanic students and a very small number of Black students. Data on free-or-reduced-price lunch eligibility and on students receiving special education services or learning English were not available, so a parent seeking that picture would need to contact the school directly.
On state assessments in mathematics and English language arts, Colonial's results are strong. In grade five, students' proficiency rates reached the mid-to-high range in both subjects, with full participation. Fourth grade also showed solid performance in both subjects, though math was slightly stronger than ELA. Third grade results in both subjects were in the upper range, again with very high participation. In science, the grade-five cohort showed high proficiency. The school's overall proficiency index places it in the top quartile among elementary schools across Westchester County districts. These numbers reflect a school where the vast majority of students meet grade-level standards, with particular strength in mathematics at the upper elementary grades.
The comparison positioning shows Colonial among the stronger-performing elementary schools in the county, a relevant context for a parent evaluating options within Westchester.
Colonial is part of the Pelham Union Free School District, a small district that has made notable recent shifts. The district replaced state Regents exams in physics and chemistry at the high school with project-based local assessments, a pedagogical move framed around inquiry-based science and reducing gender gaps. In May 2025, voters approved infrastructure bonds for district-wide repairs and renovations, including a substantial expansion of Siwanoy Elementary with air conditioning and ADA upgrades. A proposed high school addition and a geothermal initiative failed at the ballot. The approved bond is structured to avoid raising property taxes in the near term, since earlier borrowings will be paid off as new projects proceed, a detail relevant to anyone weighing long-term housing costs in the district. Families should expect years of construction activity across the schools as projects move forward.
The district landscape is residential and compact, and the broader town context emphasizes community engagement, walkability, and incremental downtown redevelopment around the transit station rather than sprawl. For a family drawn to a small-school, neighborhood-centered environment in an affluent commuter suburb where strong elementary academics are a baseline expectation, Colonial offers that profile. The data points to solid instruction and high proficiency norms, with no obvious soft spots in the available metrics. A parent may want to visit and ask about class size, grade-level differentiation for advanced readers and mathematicians, and how the school supports students who arrive below grade level, since the aggregate numbers do not show distribution within the school or how individual children who lag initially are supported.
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