MARY E DARDESS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

Located at 50 WOODBRIDGE AVE, in CHATHAM, New York, MARY E DARDESS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL is a modestly sized elementary school that serves 365 students (grades pre-K through 5), run under CHATHAM CENTRAL SCHOOL DISTRICT.

Within CHATHAM CENTRAL SCHOOL DISTRICT, which oversees 3 schools and 907 students, MARY E DARDESS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL is one campus in the system.

On demographics, MARY E DARDESS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL reports that nearly all students (89%) are White; the rest consists of 8% Hispanic.

On the income-and-resources front, MARY E DARDESS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL reports 35 full-time-equivalent teachers, putting the student-to-teacher ratio at about 10.3:1. The state averages around 12.8:1, so this campus is tighter than the state norm typical. An estimated 36% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, often used as a Title I proxy. Set against Columbia County (around 48%), the school's rate is meaningfully below typical.

On a demographically-adjusted basis, MARY E DARDESS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL performs roughly as the BeatsExpectations model predicts for a school with this FRL share. The predicted value is around 61.8%, the actual is 46.1%, a residual of -15.7 points.

In the broader community, the surrounding county (Columbia County) shows that the typical household earns roughly $81,528 per year, about 39% of the adult population holds a bachelor's degree or above, and roughly 9% of residents live below the federal poverty line. MARY E DARDESS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL is one of 17 public schools in Columbia County (combined enrollment of about 6,006 students).

CHATHAM HIGH SCHOOL is the nearest neighboring public school, about 0.1 miles from this campus. Counting just inside five miles, 2 other public schools cluster around MARY E DARDESS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL. Ranking that nearby cluster on reported proficiency puts MARY E DARDESS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL at 8th of 9; the average score across the group is 59.1%.

The school occupies a low-density site.

Five-year trend. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at MARY E DARDESS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL has edged down 22%, going from 466 students in 2018 to 365 in 2025. Class-load math has pulled in: from 11.9:1 in 2018 to 10.3:1 in 2025.

Within the allk12 community for this school, the page collects discussion, questions, and updates around classroom updates, athletics, and weather closures. Members of the school community can share what they know.