VAILS GATE STEAM ACADEMY

Set in NEW WINDSOR, New York, VAILS GATE STEAM ACADEMY is a reasonably sized elementary-level community, overseen by NEWBURGH CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT. It teaches 500 students across grades K through 5.

Within NEWBURGH CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT, which oversees 12 schools and 10,762 students, VAILS GATE STEAM ACADEMY is one campus in the system.

On demographics, VAILS GATE STEAM ACADEMY reports that 69% of the student body identifies as Hispanic. Beyond that, the school logs 17% Black, 9% White, 4% multiracial. By comparison, Orange County as a whole is about 24% Hispanic, so the school skews noticeably more Hispanic than its surroundings.

Looking at school resources, VAILS GATE STEAM ACADEMY reports 45 full-time-equivalent teachers, putting the student-to-teacher ratio at about 11.0:1. The state averages around 12.8:1, so this campus is tighter than the state norm typical. Around 58% of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price meals, a commonly cited indicator of low-income enrollment. By comparison, Orange County runs at roughly 44%, so the school's eligibility rate is meaningfully above the surrounding baseline.

On a demographically-adjusted basis, VAILS GATE STEAM ACADEMY performs roughly as the BeatsExpectations model predicts for a school with this FRL share. The predicted value is around 53.6%, the actual is 39.2%, a residual of -14.4 points.

In the surrounding community, Orange County reports that the typical household earns roughly $97,178 per year, 33% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and roughly 9% of residents live below the federal poverty line. In all, Orange County runs 82 public schools (combined enrollment of about 57,122 students), of which VAILS GATE STEAM ACADEMY is one.

Nearest neighbor: KAPLAN CAREER ACADEMY, around 0.5 miles off. Counting just inside five miles, 8 other public schools cluster around VAILS GATE STEAM ACADEMY. Ranking that nearby cluster on reported proficiency puts VAILS GATE STEAM ACADEMY at 8th of 8; the average score across the group is 63.5%.

The school occupies a residential site.

Looking at the recent track record. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at VAILS GATE STEAM ACADEMY has contracted 12%, going from 567 students in 2018 to 500 in 2025. Over the same period, the Hispanic share rose from 56% to 69%. Class-load math has narrowed: from 12.6:1 in 2018 to 11.0:1 in 2025.

On the community side, recent activity here tends to focus on science fair prep, picture-day reminders, and bus-route questions. Contributors range from current parents to recent graduates and teachers.