George Washington School, West Hempstead NY

Original Research by School Decision on George Washington School

George Washington School serves grades four through six in West Hempstead, a suburb on Long Island's North Shore undergoing rapid transit-oriented infill development near the LIRR station. The school draws an enrollment across a mid-sized cohort, with roughly half of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch. The student body is predominantly Hispanic, with substantial Black and Asian enrollment and a minority white population, reflecting the demographic composition of the surrounding community.

On state assessments, the school's performance sits below the midpoint when compared against other districts in Nassau County. In math, proficiency increases gradually from fourth grade through sixth grade, with the highest share of students meeting state standards in the upper grade. English language arts proficiency is comparable to math in grades four and five but dips in sixth grade. Science proficiency in fifth grade falls notably lower than either core subject. The data shows that not all students participate in testing; participation rates range in the low eighties for math and ELA and decline further in science, a pattern worth exploring with the school to understand the reasons. The school may have experience supporting students who enter below grade level, and a parent may want to look into how the school addresses that directly and what instructional strategies guide the workshop model the district has adopted at the elementary level.

The school is part of West Hempstead Union Free School District, which underwent a structural reorganization in 2022, merging the former middle and high schools into a unified secondary school. That change affects students' pathways starting in seventh grade. At the elementary level, the district shifted to inquiry-based learning, a pedagogical move that shapes how students encounter content in George Washington's classrooms. The district's most recent budget passed within the state tax cap and included teacher raises with no program cuts, though community debate centered on the sustainability of the district's reserve fund, a fiscal consideration families moving into the area may want to monitor as property values and tax implications shift with West Hempstead's new housing development.

The community itself is experiencing substantial change. Large transit-oriented residential projects are underway or completed near the LIRR station, including multi-unit apartment buildings marketed as attracting both market-rate renters and affordable-housing residents. Housing values in the immediate area have moved upward in recent years. For families considering the school, the context is one of an elementary program rooted in inquiry-based teaching, serving a diverse, economically mixed enrollment, with room for growth in proficiency outcomes especially in science and in sixth-grade ELA.

See more original research from School Decision →

Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 447%

School 47% · District 47%

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

Grade 555%

School 55% · District 55%

▲ 4 pts above state median · ▼ 17 pts below county median

Grade 660%

School 60% · District 60% · ▲ 1 pts above district

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

English language arts

Grade 451%

School 51% · District 51%

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

Grade 556%

School 56% · District 56%

▲ 2 pts above state median · ▼ 14 pts below county median

Grade 649%

School 49% · District 49% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▲ 4 pts above state median · ▼ 14 pts below county median

Science

Grade 545%

School 45% · District 45%

▲ 3 pts above state median · ▼ 16 pts below county median

Social studies

Grade 599%

School 99% · district not reported

▲ 7 pts above state median · even with county median

This schoolWEST HEMPSTEAD 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 4Lower-income52%Higher-income49%3 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income44%Higher-income65%21 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income50%Higher-income49%1 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 4Lower-income47%Higher-income48%1 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income44%Higher-income64%20 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income48%Higher-income74%26 pp gap