Uniondale High School, Uniondale NY

Original Research by School Decision on Uniondale High School

Uniondale High School serves a student population of around two thousand students in grades nine through twelve in the Town of Hempstead, central Long Island. The school is located in an economically diverse and densely populated hamlet with a strong Latino and Black student body. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting the economic circumstances of the families the school serves.

The community context shapes what families encounter here. Uniondale is bisected by the Hempstead Turnpike, a wide arterial highway that divides the commercial north from the primarily residential south. Walkability varies unevenly: residential streets in the south have typical sidewalk infrastructure, but the turnpike itself is a high-speed corridor with limited pedestrian safety features and a documented history of traffic incidents involving pedestrians. Public transit via NICE bus routes serves the area, with stops along Uniondale Avenue and the turnpike. The nearest commuter rail is the Hempstead Branch LIRR, a short distance away. The area is anchored by institutional anchors including Hofstra University and the Nassau Hub development around the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, which is planned to include housing, office space, research facilities, and retail.

Housing in the Uniondale zip code is mid-market by Long Island standards. Median home values are moderate relative to the county, and rental costs are substantial. Rent as a share of household income runs high, and mortgage payments exceed typical rent, meaning this is a place where both ownership and renting require significant household commitment. The housing market has modest inventory relative to the county and shows early-spring activity typical of the region.

Academic performance data for the high school was not available. State testing data and graduation rates that would allow a clearer picture of student outcomes in this building were not provided, so a parent may want to look into those metrics directly with the school. The comparison data shows that meaningful proficiency, graduation, and attendance metrics for Uniondale High School relative to other Nassau County districts could not be established from the sources reviewed.

The district has made visible moves on curriculum. It expanded its Advanced Placement offerings in recent years, adding AP Environmental Science and maintaining AP Biology, Chemistry, and Physics. This provides students with college-level course access in the sciences, a strength for those pursuing STEM or looking for academic rigor in those subjects. The district explored adding AP Human Geography and AP African American Studies as well.

The district has also undertaken substantial capital facility work, with ongoing construction and renovation across multiple elementary buildings including California Avenue, Grand Avenue, Northern Parkway, Smith Street, and Walnut Street. This is a multi-year commitment to facility upgrading across the district rather than a single project.

At the budget level, the district has asked voters to approve spending above New York's state property-tax cap to sustain staffing and programs, and voters approved that override. This reflects a structural squeeze many Long Island districts face: limited state funding growth paired with rising operating costs means local property taxes absorb the gap. A family considering Uniondale should understand that the district continues to signal pressure on local taxes, making property-tax trajectory a real consideration for long-term residents.

What was not available in the data: state proficiency results, graduation rates, chronic absenteeism, detailed staffing levels, and the full breadth of program offerings beyond the AP expansion noted. For a full picture of how students perform in this building, what support services are available, and what pathways are available to students beyond AP coursework, direct contact with the school is warranted.

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Academic performance

How students graduate and prepare for what comes next.

Graduation rate (ACGR)

75.0%Cohort of 607 students · Class of 2021

How this school compares to all schools in this state

Each dot is one school’s SY 2020-21 graduation rate, binned by integer rate. Taller columns mean more schools at that rate. This school is highlighted.

1,253 schools plotted. 14 additional schools' rates are federally suppressed and not shown. Data: EDFacts SY 2020-21.

Advanced Placement & IB

27 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

Calculus AB

88 tested

31.8%

scored 3 or higher

Calculus BC

3 tested

0.0%

scored 3 or higher

Computer Science A

1 tested

0.0%

scored 3 or higher

Computer Science Principles

10 tested · Grade 10

40.0%

scored 3 or higher

Precalculus

1 tested

0.0%

scored 3 or higher

Statistics

36 tested

44.4%

scored 3 or higher

Sciences

Biology

34 tested · Grade 10

35.3%

scored 3 or higher

Chemistry

49 tested · Grade 10

51.0%

scored 3 or higher

Environmental Science

19 tested · Grade 10

42.1%

scored 3 or higher

Physics 1

21 tested

19.0%

scored 3 or higher

Physics C: Mechanics

1 tested

0.0%

scored 3 or higher

English

Research

21 tested

66.7%

scored 3 or higher

Seminar

79 tested · Grade 10

91.1%

scored 3 or higher

History and Social Sciences

Human Geography

43 tested · Grade 9

62.8%

scored 3 or higher

Microeconomics

1 tested

0.0%

scored 3 or higher

Psychology

5 tested

40.0%

scored 3 or higher

U.S. History

86 tested

46.5%

scored 3 or higher

World Languages and Cultures

French Language and Culture

12 tested · Grade 10

58.3%

scored 3 or higher

Spanish Language and Culture

88 tested · Grade 10

97.7%

scored 3 or higher

Spanish Literature and Culture

13 tested · Grade 10

61.5%

scored 3 or higher

Arts

Music Theory

4 tested

0.0%

scored 3 or higher

Studio Art Drawing

3 tested

0.0%

scored 3 or higher

Other

Language and Comp

65 tested

30.8%

scored 3 or higher

Literature and Comp

34 tested

64.7%

scored 3 or higher

Studio Art 2d Design

2 tested

0.0%

scored 3 or higher

U S Government and Politics

10 tested

40.0%

scored 3 or higher

World History

131 tested · Grade 10

29.8%

scored 3 or higher

New York Regents Exams

4 courses reported · 2024-25

End-of-course exams required for a New York Regents diploma. Each row shows the cohort size and the share of students scoring at the proficient level or higher.

Course	Students tested	% proficient
Ela	611	79.0%
Social Studies	607	79.0%
Math	555	26.0%
Science	25	24.0%

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.