Van Duyn Elementary School, Syracuse NY

Original Research by School Decision on Van Duyn Elementary School

Van Duyn Elementary serves children from prekindergarten through grade five in a neighborhood setting on Syracuse's South Side. The school's enrollment is relatively small for its grade band, distributed across the full range from early childhood through the upper elementary grades.

The student body is predominantly Black, with a substantial share from low-income households. Nearly all students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting the economic profile of the neighborhood the school serves.

Academic performance on New York State testing shows proficiency rates that sit well below the midpoint among Onondaga County's districts. In mathematics, third-grade proficiency stands around one quarter of students, declining through fourth grade and dropping further by fifth grade. English language arts performance follows a similar pattern, with proficiency rates in the mid-to-high twenties for grades three and four, then falling to just under one fifth of fifth graders meeting the standard. In science, measured only at fifth grade, proficiency is notably low. These results point to substantial academic gaps that a parent would want to discuss directly with the school regarding instructional approaches and support systems.

The school operates within Syracuse City School District, which serves the city and surrounding areas. The district has recently opened a new STEAM High School downtown, a regional technical option opening to city and nearby students, with pathways in semiconductor technology, robotics, animation, and other concentrations tied to the region's Micron Technology investment. The district also observes Eid al-Fitr as a no-school holiday, reflecting its diverse student population including significant refugee and Muslim communities. Beyond curriculum changes, the district is in the midst of a major facility upgrade cycle funded through the Joint Schools Construction Board, with state reimbursement covering most costs, bringing renovations to roofs, classrooms, auditoriums, and technology infrastructure across buildings.

Syracuse itself sits amid major regional growth. The planned Micron semiconductor campus in nearby Clay is driving housing investment and workforce development across the area, with the city seeing downtown residential conversions and a large mixed-use redevelopment of a former state facility on the South Side that will add affordable apartments. This growth context shapes longer-term prospects for the school and its families, though it does not immediately address near-term academic performance concerns. Housing values in the zip code are modest by national standards, with rental costs representing a moderate share of income for local residents.

A parent choosing Van Duyn should plan to have a direct conversation with the school about its academic support model, given the wide gap between its proficiency results and district or county norms. The school's small size and neighborhood location may appeal to families seeking a community-based setting, but the performance data calls for clarity on what interventions or programs are in place to help students reach grade-level standards.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 327%

School 27% · District 29% · ▼ 1 pts below district

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

Grade 423%

School 23% · District 19% · ▲ 4 pts above district

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

Grade 513%

School 13% · District 17% · ▼ 4 pts below district

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

English language arts

Grade 327%

School 27% · District 27%

▼ 25 pts below state median · ▼ 11 pts below county median

Grade 427%

School 27% · District 24% · ▲ 2 pts above district

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

Grade 520%

School 20% · District 27% · ▼ 7 pts below district

▼ 35 pts below state median · ▼ 23 pts below county median

Science

Grade 58%

School 8% · District 16% · ▼ 9 pts below district

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

Social studies

Grade 573%

School 73% · district not reported

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

This schoolSYRACUSE 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.