Penn Yan Elementary School, Penn Yan NY

Original Research by School Decision on Penn Yan Elementary School

Penn Yan Elementary serves about five hundred students in prekindergarten through fifth grade in a mixed-use village anchored by a historic downtown and surrounded by farmland, wineries, and Keuka Lake. The school sits on a shared campus with the middle school and high school near the center of the village, embedding education into the civic heart rather than on an outlying campus.

The test results from the most recent school year show proficiency rates in the low to mid-range across math, English language arts, and science. In third-grade math, about half of students scored at proficiency; in fourth-grade math that fell to roughly one-third, and fifth-grade math recovered to about mid-range. English language arts showed similar patterns, with fourth grade notably lower than grades three and five. Fifth-grade science also came in at around two-fifths. These results place the school in the top quartile for overall proficiency compared to other districts in Yates County, though the absolute numbers show room for growth in reading and mathematics across the grade band. Student participation in testing was consistently high, exceeding nine out of ten students in each grade and subject.

The student body is predominantly white, with small populations of Hispanic students and students of two or more races, and very few Asian or Black students. A substantial share of students, more than six out of ten, qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting economic circumstances in the community. Special education and English learner enrollment data are not available, so a parent seeking those specifics should contact the school directly.

Penn Yan is home to a large Mennonite community whose agricultural and handmade goods contribute to the local texture. Employment centers on healthcare, manufacturing, and food processing, with Finger Lakes Health and Finger Lakes Community Health as major employers alongside manufacturers like Silgan Plastics and Birkett Mills, a long-established buckwheat producer. The village itself has worked to maintain its downtown as a genuine center of commerce rather than letting retail drift to strip development. A Downtown Revitalization Initiative is funding streetscape improvements and housing projects, reflecting intentional effort to sustain community life.

Housing in the area costs less than the state and national median, and mortgage payments and rent ratios remain below national benchmarks, making this a more affordable place to buy or rent than most of the United States. The community is grappling with an acknowledged housing shortage, and recent projects aim to add workforce and affordable units. Growth is real but measured.

A School-Based Health Center at the elementary school, opened in 2023 and operated by Finger Lakes Community Health, offers medical, dental, and behavioral health services on campus during school hours. This removes barriers that families often face around cost, transportation, and taking time away from work. In December 2025, voters approved a capital improvement project addressing aging infrastructure, with improvements planned for 2027 and no additional local tax increase.

The data sections below contain the specific test proficiency rates, enrollment counts, demographics, and housing and economic indicators in full.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 347%

School 47% · District 46% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▼ 12 pts below state median

Grade 433%

School 33% · District 31% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▼ 26 pts below state median

Grade 545%

School 45% · District 43% · ▲ 2 pts above district

▼ 7 pts below state median

English language arts

Grade 342%

School 42% · District 42%

▼ 10 pts below state median

Grade 439%

School 39% · District 37% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▼ 14 pts below state median

Grade 543%

School 43% · District 42% · ▲ 2 pts above district

▼ 11 pts below state median

Science

Grade 542%

School 42% · District 41% · ▲ 2 pts above district

even with state median

Social studies

Grade 586%

School 86% · district not reported

▼ 5 pts below state median

This schoolPENN YAN 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-income39%Higher-income48%10 pp gap

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

Grade 5Lower-income39%Higher-income50%11 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income37%Higher-income63%25 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income26%Higher-income46%20 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income35%Higher-income60%25 pp gap