Walnut Street Elementary School, Uniondale NY

Original Research by School Decision on Walnut Street Elementary School

Walnut Street Elementary School is a small public elementary school in Uniondale, a diverse, dense hamlet in central Nassau County serving pre-kindergarten through fifth grade. About three-fifths of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, and the enrollment is quite diverse: the majority of students are Hispanic, with a substantial share identifying as Black, and smaller populations of Asian, multiracial, and other students. The school sits in a mixed-income community where homeownership has become costly; median home values in the area have risen to levels that put homeownership out of reach for many households, while rents remain very high relative to local income. A family considering this school would be weighing a property market that demands substantial means.

Academic results show uneven performance across grades and subjects. In third grade, math proficiency is in the mid-range and English language arts is somewhat lower. Fourth grade is the school's strongest year: math proficiency is the highest across the grades served, and performance in ELA improves modestly. By fifth grade, performance weakens considerably. Math proficiency drops below the school's grade-three level, and English language arts proficiency falls to a notably low point, less than two-fifths of students meeting the standard. Science proficiency in fifth grade is similarly low. This grade-level decline is steep enough that a parent preparing a child for middle school or tracking the school's overall trajectory may want to look into this further with the school to understand the causes and any support structures being put in place.

Within the county's districts, Walnut Street's overall proficiency index places it below the midpoint, suggesting performance that lags the typical district school in Nassau County. The school participates fully in state testing; participation rates are very high across both math and ELA, indicating strong test administration and attendance.

Uniondale itself is experiencing substantial change. The Nassau Hub development, centered around the renovated Nassau Coliseum to the north, is advancing as a major mixed-use innovation district anchored by planned Northwell Health research facilities and eventually housing and office space. This may bring new economic energy and employment to the area over time, though the construction is ongoing. The school's own building is part of a multi-building capital improvement program across the district, with reported monthly progress on renovations and facility upgrades.

The district has made a point to expand its high school Advanced Placement offerings and to secure operating budgets through voter-approved tax-cap overrides, signaling a commitment to academic breadth and facility investment even as state aid has remained limited. For families in this community, the school offers a small, accessible pre-K through fifth-grade setting in an increasingly dense and economically mixed area, but one where academic performance, particularly in the upper elementary grades, is substantially below county norms.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 367%

School 67% · District 50% · ▲ 17 pts above district

▲ 8 pts above state median · ▼ 8 pts below county median

Grade 473%

School 73% · District 57% · ▲ 16 pts above district

▲ 15 pts above state median · ▼ 5 pts below county median

Grade 559%

School 59% · District 42% · ▲ 17 pts above district

▲ 8 pts above state median · ▼ 13 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 365%

School 65% · District 45% · ▲ 20 pts above district

▲ 13 pts above state median · ▼ 3 pts below county median

Grade 458%

School 58% · District 46% · ▲ 12 pts above district

▲ 5 pts above state median · ▼ 10 pts below county median

Grade 540%

School 40% · District 44% · ▼ 4 pts below district

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

Science

Grade 537%

School 37% · District 30% · ▲ 7 pts above district

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

Social studies

Grade 597%

School 97% · district not reported

▲ 5 pts above state median · ▼ 2 pts below county median

This schoolUNIONDALE UNION FREE 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-income67%Higher-income61%6 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income56%Higher-income63%7 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income43%Higher-income33%9 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income67%Higher-income68%1 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income76%Higher-income66%11 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income64%Higher-income48%16 pp gap