Elmwood Elementary School, Monsey NY

Original Research by School Decision on Elmwood Elementary School

Elmwood Elementary School serves grades kindergarten through six in Monsey, a predominantly residential community and the largest center of Hasidic and Orthodox Jewish life in the United States outside New York City. The school enrolls a small-to-mid-sized cohort, with the bulk of students concentrated in grades four through six. The student body is predominantly Hispanic, with a substantial share qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch, and many students speak languages other than English at home.

State test results in math and English language arts for the 2024-25 school year show proficiency rates below the state standard. In math, third-grade proficiency reached roughly the lower teens, fourth grade performed similarly, fifth grade was near one-fifth, and sixth grade approached one-third. In English language arts, third-grade proficiency was around one-sixth, fourth grade rose to roughly one-fifth, fifth grade was similar, and sixth grade reached nearly one-quarter. Science testing, administered only in fifth grade, showed proficiency well below that of reading and math, hovering near single digits. Participation rates in these assessments were generally strong, in the mid-to-upper eighties or nineties. These results place the school in the bottom quartile for overall proficiency relative to other districts in Rockland County. The school did not administer testing at seventh grade in either subject.

Positioned within the East Ramapo Central School District, Elmwood operates in a district facing significant structural shifts. The district is transitioning to science-of-reading instructional approaches beginning in the 2025-26 school year, retraining teachers and redesigning literacy support across all grades. For a district serving a large multilingual, economically disadvantaged population, this pedagogical overhaul touches every classroom. Additionally, East Ramapo remains under expanded state-monitor oversight following years of governance and fiscal challenges; state monitors now approve budgets, policies, and major decisions, an unusual governance structure worth understanding. In 2024-25, the district's voters approved only a modest property-tax increase, which the state Education Department then supplemented with a directed levy hike, marking the district's first meaningful tax increase in roughly a decade. This shift directly affects family housing costs for any household in the area.

Monsey itself is experiencing rapid housing-driven growth tied to demand from the expanding Orthodox community. Zoning changes have enabled denser two- and multi-family residential construction, and recent development activity includes subdivisions and a proposed large mixed-use project. Housing values and rents in the area are substantially above both state and national medians, a consideration for any family relocating to the community. The town is car-dependent, though parts near commercial corridors are walkable to some services. A layered transit network including county bus routes, a park-and-ride serving New York City, and a private Monsey Trails coach service serves residents.

A parent evaluating Elmwood should understand that the school's current proficiency levels are well below state benchmarks and below peers in the county. This reflects challenges the school and district are actively working to address through instructional reform. The demographics show a community with significant economic pressures and multilingual complexity. The school serves the broader Monsey area, though the core community is heavily oriented toward private religious schools. Whether Elmwood is the right fit depends on a family's specific needs, the school's response to low test results, and how the broader district restructuring unfolds. A parent may want to look into further detail with the school about literacy support, English learner programming, and implementation of the science-of-reading approach.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 315%

School 15% · District 25% · ▼ 10 pts below district

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

Grade 415%

School 15% · District 19% · ▼ 3 pts below district

▼ 43 pts below state median · ▼ 44 pts below county median

Grade 522%

School 22% · District 18% · ▲ 4 pts above district

▼ 30 pts below state median · ▼ 32 pts below county median

Grade 628%

School 28% · District 23% · ▲ 5 pts above district

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

Grade 70%

School 0% · District 14% · ▼ 14 pts below district

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

English language arts

Grade 316%

School 16% · District 21% · ▼ 5 pts below district

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

Grade 421%

School 21% · District 20% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▼ 32 pts below state median · ▼ 37 pts below county median

Grade 522%

School 22% · District 23%

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

Grade 624%

School 24% · District 24%

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

Grade 70%

School 0% · District 17% · ▼ 17 pts below district

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

Science

Grade 59%

School 9% · District 12% · ▼ 3 pts below district

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

Social studies

Grade 576%

School 76% · district not reported

▼ 16 pts below state median · ▼ 19 pts below county median

This schoolEAST RAMAPO CENTRAL SCHOOL DISTRICT (SPRING VALLEY), 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-income21%Higher-income22%1 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income23%Higher-income13%10 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income24%Higher-income20%4 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 4Lower-income16%Higher-income8%8 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income22%Higher-income18%4 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income29%Higher-income17%12 pp gap