Enrollment
347
Elementary
DISTRICT 280 · STATE 443
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·ITHACA CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT·NCES 361557001329
BELLE SHERMAN SCHOOL
501 MITCHELL ST, ITHACA, NY 14850 · (607) 274-2206 · Tompkins County
GRADES PK–05ELEMENTARY13-CITYREGULAR SCHOOL347 STUDENTS
C+
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 40% of New York public elementary schools
- B-Test scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- CBeats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
Grades compare a school only with schools in the same state, because every state gives its own test. How grades work · Top-graded New York public elementary schools
Student : Teacher
10.0:1
35 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 9.4:1 · STATE 12.8:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
29%
101 students
DISTRICT 36% · STATE 58%
Community
0
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other elementary schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-K | 11 | 3% |
| Kindergarten | 59 | 17% |
| Grade 1 | 57 | 16% |
| Grade 2 | 58 | 17% |
| Grade 3 | 60 | 17% |
| Grade 4 | 55 | 16% |
| Grade 5 | 47 | 14% |
This year's kindergarten class (59) is 26% larger than its 5th grade class (47).
Student demographics
69%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 59% · STATE 72% · US 70%
Student head counts by race/ethnicity from federal NCES enrollment data. District, state, and US figures are each group's share of all public school students in that area (US excludes territories). Very small groups may be suppressed in the source, so categories do not always sum exactly to total enrollment.
Gender split
Test scores
NYS Assessments 2024-25 . % Proficient (Level 3 + Level 4)English Language Arts
54.0%
NY avg 58.3% . +10.0pp since 2023
Math
50.0%
NY avg 57.4% . -4.0pp since 2023
What this means: On the NYS Assessments, New York's statewide test, about 54 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 50 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all New York schools, those numbers are about 58 and 57. Reading and writing scores are up about 10 points since 2023, while math scores are down about 4 points.
NYS Assessments results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 54.0% | 50.0% |
| 2023-24 | 44.0% | 54.0% |
% Proficient (Level 3 + Level 4), all students and all tested grades.
Source: NYS Assessments. All students, all grades. See all years and grades →
BeatsExpectations
Demographically-adjusted score · methodologyTier
AS EXPECTED
Performing as predicted given the school's student profile
Actual proficiency
50.4%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
64.3%
based on NY schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-13.9pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 50% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 64% typical for New York schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations measures results against demographically similar schools rather than by raw scores, and this school falls within the typical range, neither among New York's top nor bottom 10%.
BeatsExpectations runs a per-state regression of proficiency on free/reduced-lunch share, then scores each school by residual. How this is calculated →
Schools most like BELLE SHERMAN SCHOOL
BELLE SHERMAN SCHOOL's state test result (50.4% proficient) is higher than 0 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| BELLE SHERMAN SCHOOL this school | 347 | 29.1% | 50.4% |
| SOUTHGATE SCHOOL LOUDONVILLE | 369 | 25.5% | 70.8% |
| HEWLETT ELEMENTARY SCHOOL HEWLETT | 369 | 26.3% | 64.8% |
| LATHAM RIDGE SCHOOL LATHAM | 433 | 29.8% | 55.3% |
| VESTAL HILLS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL VESTAL | 388 | 34.3% | 56.6% |
| SHAKER ROAD ELEMENTARY SCHOOL ALBANY | 354 | 34.2% | 61.7% |
Matched among New York elementary schools on enrollment, the share of students from low-income families (eligible for free or reduced-price lunch), and racial and ethnic makeup. Proficient is the average share of students meeting the state standard across all of the school's state tests in 2023-24 and 2024-25, the same combined score our test-score rankings use. Online schools and schools serving specialized populations are not matched.
Where BELLE SHERMAN SCHOOL ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In New York | In Tompkins County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 50.4% | #1,151 of 2,335 | #8 of 13 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 50.0% | #1,448 of 2,342 ▼ 300 | #9 of 13 ▼ 3 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 54.0% | #1,188 of 2,343 ▼ 63 | #8 of 13 ▼ 1 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 347 | #1,688 of 2,585 | #6 of 15 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 10.0:1 | #418 of 2,338 | #6 of 12 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 69.2% | #254 of 2,388 | #2 of 12 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 29.1% | #1,992 of 2,534 | #7 of 13 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -5.4% | #1,448 of 1,757 | #10 of 12 |
Ranked against other public elementary schools. Online schools are left out of every list, and test-score lists leave out schools that serve specialized populations. Each rank links to the full list. Arrows under a test-score rank show places moved since the prior test year, among schools tested both years.
4-year change
SY 2020-21 vs SY 2024-25Enrollment
347
+31 (+10%) vs 2020
-15% since 1990-91, when it was 407
Student : Teacher
10.0:1
was 9.3:1
Source: NCES Common Core of Data
Enrollment and staffing by year
| School year | Students | Teachers (FTE) | Students per teacher | Free and reduced lunch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 347 | 34.8 | 10.0:1 | 29% (101) |
| 2023-24 | 319 | 34 | 9.4:1 | 32% (101) |
| 2022-23 | 307 | 33.8 | 9.1:1 | 35% (106) |
| 2020-21 | 316 | 34 | 9.3:1 | 37% (118) |
| 2017-18 | 367 | 28 | 13.1:1 | 40% (145) |
| 2015-16 | 366 | 28 | 13.1:1 | 44% (161) |
| 2010-11 | 374 | 33 | 11.3:1 | 43% (162) |
| 2000-01 | 390 | 29 | 13.4:1 | 34% (132) |
| 1990-91 | 407 | 38 | 10.7:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for BELLE SHERMAN SCHOOL.
About BELLE SHERMAN SCHOOL
ITHACA, New York, is home to BELLE SHERMAN SCHOOL, a low-enrollment elementary school. The school enrolls 347 students in pre-K through 5. Across elementary schools in New York, the average enrollment is about 443.
ITHACA CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT enrolls 4,988 students in 12 schools, including BELLE SHERMAN SCHOOL.
The largest racial or ethnic group at BELLE SHERMAN SCHOOL is White, with 48% of students. The next largest groups are 20% Asian, 12% Hispanic, 10% multiracial, and 10% Black. The school's White share is 27 points below the 75% share among Tompkins County residents. The diversity index for BELLE SHERMAN SCHOOL is 69%. For US public schools as a whole it is 70%.
BELLE SHERMAN SCHOOL lists 34.8 full-time-equivalent teachers; that is about 10.0 students per teacher. The gap from the 12.8:1 average for elementary schools in New York is 2.9 students per teacher. About 29% of students at BELLE SHERMAN SCHOOL are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch.
Among New York public elementary schools, BELLE SHERMAN SCHOOL outscored 40%, which works out to a C+ on the allk12 Grade.
When test results are adjusted for free or reduced-price lunch eligibility, BELLE SHERMAN SCHOOL is 13.9 points below its prediction. Actual: 50.4%. Predicted: 64.3%.
The school is in Tompkins County, where median household income comes to about $74,024, 59% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and about 7% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Tompkins County counts 33 public schools with about 10,392 students.
BELLE SHERMAN SCHOOL's closest public school neighbor is SOUTH HILL SCHOOL, about 0.8 miles away. The five-mile area around BELLE SHERMAN SCHOOL holds at least 8 other public schools. Ranking the closest schools with test data puts BELLE SHERMAN SCHOOL at 7th of 9.
Locale data from NCES put BELLE SHERMAN SCHOOL inside a principal city with a population under 100,000 (City: Small).
Between 2020-21 and 2024-25, BELLE SHERMAN SCHOOL had a net gain of 31 students, or 10%.
This page is a place to ask questions and share updates about athletics, class schedules, and weather closures at BELLE SHERMAN SCHOOL. Parents, students, alumni, and staff are welcome to post.
Tompkins County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
104,537
Census ACS
Median income
$74,024
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
59%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
7%
Below federal line
Schools in county
33
10,392 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in ITHACA CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT
- ITHACA SENIOR HIGH SCHOOLHigh · 1,411 students
- DEWITT MIDDLE SCHOOLMiddle · 559 students
- BOYNTON MIDDLE SCHOOLMiddle · 513 students
- SOUTH HILL SCHOOLElementary · 363 students
- NORTHEAST SCHOOLElementary · 347 students
- CAROLINE ELEMENTARY SCHOOLElementary · 273 students
Other schools in ITHACA
- ITHACA SENIOR HIGH SCHOOLHigh · 1,411 students
- DEWITT MIDDLE SCHOOLMiddle · 559 students
- BOYNTON MIDDLE SCHOOLMiddle · 513 students
- SOUTH HILL SCHOOLElementary · 363 students
- NORTHEAST SCHOOLElementary · 347 students
- TOMPKINS-SENECA-TIOGA BOCESCombined · 309 students
Nearby schools
- SOUTH HILL SCHOOL0.8 mi · 363
- NEW ROOTS CHARTER SCHOOL1.1 mi · 98
- BEVERLY J MARTIN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL1.3 mi · 258
- FALL CREEK ELEMENTARY SCHOOL1.3 mi · 217
- ITHACA SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL1.6 mi · 1,411
- BOYNTON MIDDLE SCHOOL1.9 mi · 513
Frequently asked questions
About BELLE SHERMAN SCHOOLHow many students attend BELLE SHERMAN SCHOOL?
BELLE SHERMAN SCHOOL enrolls approximately 347 students in grades PK-05.
What age range does BELLE SHERMAN SCHOOL serve?
BELLE SHERMAN SCHOOL serves students from grade PK through grade 05.
How many students per teacher at BELLE SHERMAN SCHOOL?
Approximately 10.0:1 students per teacher at BELLE SHERMAN SCHOOL.
How diverse is BELLE SHERMAN SCHOOL?
BELLE SHERMAN SCHOOL reports a student body of 48% White, 12% Hispanic, 10% Black, 20% Asian, 10% Two or more.
What district is BELLE SHERMAN SCHOOL in?
BELLE SHERMAN SCHOOL is part of ITHACA CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.