Thomas Jefferson Elementary School, Utica NY

Original Research by School Decision on Thomas Jefferson Elementary School

Thomas Jefferson Elementary serves grades pre-K through six in Utica, a mid-sized Mohawk Valley city that has stabilized after decades of manufacturing decline and is now anchored by health care, education, and refugee resettlement. The school sits in a neighborhood shaped by exceptional diversity: roughly one in four Utica residents is a refugee, with families from more than forty countries now woven into the everyday landscape of churches converted to mosques, immigrant-owned restaurants, and multilingual commercial corridors.

The school's enrollment is small to moderate for its grade band, with a substantial share of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch. Racially and ethnically, the student body is mixed, with meaningful representation across Black, Hispanic, Asian, and white students, reflecting Utica's immigrant character. English learner and special education enrollment data were not available in the reporting provided.

State test results from the most recent year show proficiency that is below the midpoint among the county's districts. In math, grade three sits around a quarter of students meeting the standard, grades four and five each around half, and grade six drops sharply to under a fifth. English language arts follows a similar pattern, with grades three and six at roughly a quarter proficient, grades four and five closer to half. Grade five science performed stronger, with more than half the students proficient. A parent may want to look into the school's approach to upper-elementary math and reading instruction, particularly at grades three and six, where the data shows a steeper climb ahead for students.

Utica City School District recently passed a major capital project in May 2025 with no tax-levy impact, directing sustained investment toward facility improvements across all schools, including a full renovation of the high school pool and locker rooms running into 2027. The district has also adopted consecutive annual budgets with no tax increase, keeping school property taxes level while managing facility upgrades and operational spending. This matters directly to families considering the area: housing values in the Utica zip code sit below state and national medians, with moderate year-over-year appreciation, and rents remain accessible relative to regional benchmarks, making the combination of stable taxes and active facility investment a tangible factor in the school's operating context.

The broader city landscape includes downtown revitalization centered on Genesee Street, new medical campus anchored by the Wynn Hospital that opened in 2023, and neighborhood parks designed by Olmsted Brothers that shape daily life. The economy is built on health systems, Utica University, insurance, and manufacturing remnants. The school's setting is walkable in some directions, with the central Genesee Street spine rated very walkable and more peripheral residential areas less so.

Thomas Jefferson is a traditional public school with no charter or magnet designation. It serves an economically vulnerable student population in a city working through structural transitions, with test results that show the work ahead in elementary literacy and math but also pockets of stronger performance in science. For families weighing the school, the relevant questions include the school's specific instructional plans for the lower-performing grades, how it supports students in a high-poverty context, and how the district's capital improvements and stable financial footing align with their priorities.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 329%

School 29% · District 42% · ▼ 13 pts below district

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

Grade 449%

School 49% · District 43% · ▲ 6 pts above district

▼ 9 pts below state median · ▲ 1 pts above county median

Grade 549%

School 49% · District 40% · ▲ 10 pts above district

▼ 2 pts below state median · even with county median

Grade 619%

School 19% · District 37% · ▼ 17 pts below district

▼ 25 pts below state median · ▼ 28 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 330%

School 30% · District 35% · ▼ 5 pts below district

▼ 22 pts below state median · ▼ 14 pts below county median

Grade 449%

School 49% · District 40% · ▲ 9 pts above district

▼ 4 pts below state median · ▲ 6 pts above county median

Grade 553%

School 53% · District 42% · ▲ 11 pts above district

▼ 1 pts below state median · ▲ 6 pts above county median

Grade 623%

School 23% · District 40% · ▼ 17 pts below district

▼ 23 pts below state median · ▼ 21 pts below county median

Science

Grade 559%

School 59% · District 36% · ▲ 23 pts above district

▲ 17 pts above state median · ▲ 12 pts above county median

Social studies

Grade 593%

School 93% · district not reported

▲ 2 pts above state median · even with county median

This schoolUTICA 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.

Proficiency by household income

English language arts

Grade 3Lower-income25%Higher-income71%46 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income43%Higher-income70%27 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income49%Higher-income83%35 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income28%Higher-income38%9 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income41%Higher-income75%34 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income44%Higher-income83%39 pp gap