LEHMAN ALTERNATIVE COMMUNITY SCHOOL

LEHMAN ALTERNATIVE COMMUNITY SCHOOL operates as a rural-scale secondary school in ITHACA, New York, one of the schools within ITHACA CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT. Current enrollment sits at 265 students spanning grades 6 through 12. Compared to the state average of about 668 students per school, that is 60% below typical.

Across the 12 schools in ITHACA CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT (4,988 students total), LEHMAN ALTERNATIVE COMMUNITY SCHOOL accounts for its share of the district's footprint.

In terms of who attends, LEHMAN ALTERNATIVE COMMUNITY SCHOOL records that 74% of the student body identifies as White; the rest consists of 12% multiracial, 7% Hispanic. Compared to Tompkins County overall, the school's racial mix sits in roughly the same range.

In terms of school funding signals, LEHMAN ALTERNATIVE COMMUNITY SCHOOL lists 29 full-time-equivalent teachers, putting the student-to-teacher ratio at about 9.1:1. The state averages around 11.0:1, so this campus is tighter than the state norm typical. An estimated 37% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, a number frequently used as a low-income enrollment indicator.

After controlling for student poverty, LEHMAN ALTERNATIVE COMMUNITY SCHOOL performs roughly as the BeatsExpectations model predicts for a school with this FRL share. The predicted value is around 61.3%, the actual is 59.8%, a residual of -1.4 points.

In the broader community, Tompkins County reports that the typical household earns roughly $74,024 per year, 59% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and roughly 7% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Across Tompkins County's 33 public schools (combined enrollment of about 10,392 students), LEHMAN ALTERNATIVE COMMUNITY SCHOOL is one campus in the mix.

Nearest neighbor: BEVERLY J MARTIN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, around 0.8 miles off. Counting just inside five miles, 8 other public schools cluster around LEHMAN ALTERNATIVE COMMUNITY SCHOOL. Among the 9 schools in that immediate cluster with test data (this one included), LEHMAN ALTERNATIVE COMMUNITY SCHOOL ranks 5th on composite proficiency, higher than the local average of 58.2%.

The school occupies a downtown site.

Looking at the recent track record. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at LEHMAN ALTERNATIVE COMMUNITY SCHOOL has contracted 13%, going from 304 students in 2018 to 265 in 2025. White enrollment moved from 78% to 74% across the same window. The student-to-teacher ratio tightened from 12.1:1 in 2018 to 9.1:1 today.

On the community side, the feed for LEHMAN ALTERNATIVE COMMUNITY SCHOOL typically covers enrollment questions, classroom assignments, and PTA news. Members of the school community can share what they know.