ELSMERE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

ELSMERE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL is an elementary-level community of small scale in DELMAR, New York, one of the schools within BETHLEHEM CENTRAL SCHOOL DISTRICT, hosting 236 students in grades K through 5. Compared to the state average of about 443 students per school, that is 47% below typical.

ELSMERE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL is one of 7 schools operated by BETHLEHEM CENTRAL SCHOOL DISTRICT, a district that works with 4,077 students overall.

On the student-mix side, ELSMERE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL reports that 85% of students identify as White, making the school strongly White-majority. Other groups include 6% multiracial, 3% Black, 3% Hispanic, 3% Asian. By comparison, Albany County as a whole is about 69% White, so the school skews considerably more White than its surroundings.

Looking at school resources, On paper, ELSMERE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL has 21 full-time-equivalent teachers, translating to a class-load average of around 11.2:1. That figure is tighter than the state norm's 12.8:1 average. Around 16% of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price meals, which schools and policymakers use as a rough income-mix signal. Set against Albany County (around 45%), the school's rate is noticeably below typical.

With demographic context factored in, ELSMERE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL performs roughly as the BeatsExpectations model predicts for a school with this FRL share. The predicted value is around 69.2%, the actual is 78.3%, a residual of +9.1 points.

Around the school, ACS estimates for Albany County put median household income runs about $85,333, roughly 46% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and the poverty rate sits near 8%. In all, Albany County runs 75 public schools (combined enrollment of about 39,946 students), of which ELSMERE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL is one.

The closest other public school is BETHLEHEM CENTRAL MIDDLE SCHOOL, roughly 0.6 miles away. 8 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius. Among the 9 schools in that immediate cluster with test data (this one included), ELSMERE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL ranks 2nd on composite proficiency, ahead of the local average of 67.4%.

Geographically, the school is in an outer-ring area.

Looking at the recent track record. Over the past 7-year window, the student count fell 15%: 279 students in 2018 compared to 236 in 2025. The student-to-teacher ratio narrowed from 15.5:1 in 2018 to 11.2:1 today.

Within the allk12 community for this school, posts here usually surface around enrollment questions, classroom assignments, and PTA news. The community welcomes input from current and former families.