Oquenock Elementary School, West Islip NY

Original Research by School Decision on Oquenock Elementary School

Oquenock Elementary School is a regular public school in West Islip, serving prekindergarten through grade five. The school has an enrollment of just under five hundred students, drawn from a community that is predominantly white with a substantial Hispanic population and smaller Asian and Black communities. About one in five students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch.

West Islip is a built-out, car-dependent South Shore suburb where homes are mostly single-family residences on quarter- to third-acre lots, some with waterfront access to the Great South Bay. The hamlet's main commercial corridor runs along Montauk Highway and includes a cluster of medical offices anchored by Good Samaritan University Hospital. The district's schools occupy separate suburban campuses rather than a downtown core; there is no LIRR station in West Islip itself, though the Babylon station is accessible to many residents. The housing market is active, with median home values in the mid-range for Long Island and rents at moderate levels.

The West Islip Union Free School District has held property-tax increases modest for over a decade by staying within New York's tax-levy cap and using a capital reserve, established by voter approval, to fund facility upgrades without issuing bonds. The district recently moved its full-day pre-K program to South Shore Children's Center beginning in 2025-26, with enrollment now determined by lottery rather than guaranteed admission—a material change for families of young children.

Oquenock's state test results in math and English language arts are weak. In third grade, about half the students tested in math met the proficiency standard, while English language arts proficiency was lower at about one-third. Results decline as students advance: by fourth grade, roughly two in five students met the math standard and about one in five met the ELA standard; by fifth grade, about three in ten students met the math standard and fewer than one in five met the ELA standard. Science proficiency in fifth grade was around one-third. These results place the school below the midpoint among districts in Suffolk County on overall proficiency. Test participation rates are also a concern, ranging from roughly half to three-quarters across the grades and subjects shown, which may reflect absences on test days or other factors a parent may want to clarify with the school. The data does not include a graduation rate or chronic absenteeism rates, as these metrics do not apply to an elementary school.

Oquenock appears to be a neighborhood school serving its local community within a stable, tax-conscious district. Its weak proficiency numbers suggest that families considering enrollment should have a direct conversation with school leadership about instructional approaches, support systems for students below standard, and any recent or planned changes to address these outcomes.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 354%

School 54% · District 65% · ▼ 11 pts below district

▼ 5 pts below state median · ▼ 3 pts below county median

Grade 441%

School 41% · District 58% · ▼ 16 pts below district

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

Grade 530%

School 30% · District 39% · ▼ 9 pts below district

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

English language arts

Grade 335%

School 35% · District 60% · ▼ 25 pts below district

▼ 17 pts below state median · ▼ 12 pts below county median

Grade 419%

School 19% · District 41% · ▼ 21 pts below district

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

Grade 518%

School 18% · District 45% · ▼ 26 pts below district

▼ 36 pts below state median · ▼ 29 pts below county median

Science

Grade 534%

School 34% · District 45% · ▼ 10 pts below district

▼ 7 pts below state median · ▼ 6 pts below county median

Social studies

Grade 5100%

School 100% · district not reported

▲ 8 pts above state median · ▲ 3 pts above county median

This schoolWEST ISLIP 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-income8%Higher-income48%41 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income11%Higher-income23%12 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income20%Higher-income17%3 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income8%Higher-income72%64 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income40%Higher-income42%2 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income11%Higher-income36%24 pp gap