CAYUGA HEIGHTS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

CAYUGA HEIGHTS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL is a tight-knit primary school in ITHACA, New York, overseen by ITHACA CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT. The school serves 270 students in grades pre-K through 5. Enrollment runs roughly 39% below the state mean of about 443.

ITHACA CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT comprises 12 schools with combined enrollment of 4,988 students; CAYUGA HEIGHTS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL is among them.

In terms of who attends, CAYUGA HEIGHTS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL shows that the largest single group is White, at 63% of enrollment. Other groups include 12% multiracial, 9% Asian, 9% Hispanic, 6% Black. That is visibly less White than the county at large, where the share is closer to 75%.

Looking at school resources, Staff filings list 27 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to roughly 10.0:1 students per teacher. That figure is tighter than the state norm's 12.8:1 average. Around 28% of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price meals, a number frequently used as a low-income enrollment indicator. By comparison, Tompkins County runs at roughly 36%, so the school's eligibility rate is meaningfully below the surrounding baseline.

On a residual basis (actual vs predicted given the student mix), CAYUGA HEIGHTS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL tracks the demographic baseline. The model predicts 64.8% given the school's FRL share; actual proficiency is 56.9%.

In the surrounding community, ACS estimates for Tompkins County put median household earnings sit near $74,024, about 59% of the adult population holds a bachelor's degree or above, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 7%. CAYUGA HEIGHTS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL is one of 33 public schools in Tompkins County (combined enrollment of about 10,392 students).

BOYNTON MIDDLE SCHOOL is the nearest neighboring public school, about 0.6 miles from this campus. 8 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius. Among the 8 schools in that immediate cluster with test data (this one included), CAYUGA HEIGHTS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL ranks 6th on composite proficiency, below the local average of 61.1%.

Geographically, the school is in a commuter-belt area.

Trend over the last 7 years. CAYUGA HEIGHTS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL's enrollment has decreased 21% since 2018, when it stood at 342 (now 270). Class-load math has tightened: from 12.9:1 in 2018 to 10.0:1 in 2025.

On this page, members of the CAYUGA HEIGHTS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL community share and discuss enrollment questions, classroom assignments, and PTA news. The community welcomes input from current and former families.