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Two small East End schools made the biggest jumps in Niche’s new rankings, and one district dominates the top of the list
Four schools, one district. Half Hollow Hills owns the top of Suffolk County’s elementary school rankings.
Vanderbilt Elementary School is Suffolk’s best public elementary school in Niche’s 2027 rankings, released this week. It ranks No. 50 in New York and No. 287 in America.
Paumanok Elementary, also in Half Hollow Hills, is No. 2. Sunquam and Signal Hill, two other schools in the district, finished ninth and 10th.
The biggest story though may be on the East End.
Quogue Elementary School rocketed from No. 170 in New York last year to No. 72. The Montauk School climbed even further, from No. 303 to No. 73. Both schools cracked Niche’s national list and now rank third and fourth in Suffolk.
Four make the nation’s top 1,000
Elsewhere, the news is tougher for Suffolk.
Only four Suffolk elementary schools made Niche’s national top 1,000 this year, down from seven. Vanderbilt is the county’s only school in New York’s to squeak into the top 50.
Many top Suffolk schools slid in Niche’s annual rankings.
Vanderbilt fell 12 spots from No. 38, while Three Village’s Nassakeag Elementary plummeted from No. 52 to No. 123. Sunquam slipped from No. 85 to No. 194.
Elwood’s James H. Boyd Elementary saw significant improvement in the rankings, climbing from No. 204 to No. 166 in New York.
Nassau County, by comparison, placed 21 elementary schools in New York’s top 50. Roslyn’s East Hills Elementary ranks No. 10 in the nation.
Niche builds its rankings from federal and state data, school-reported statistics and more than 3 million reviews from students, parents and teachers. This year, public school test proficiency data comes from state-level sources rather than federal ones.
Suffolk’s Top 10 elementary schools
Here are Suffolk County’s 10 best public elementary schools for 2027, according to Niche (districts are listed after each school name; schools without a national rank fell outside Niche’s national top 1,000):
1. Vanderbilt Elementary School, Half Hollow Hills
New York rank: No. 50 (2026: No. 38). National rank: No. 287 (2026: No. 134).
2. Paumanok Elementary School, Half Hollow Hills
New York rank: No. 53 (2026: No. 45). National rank: No. 297 (2026: No. 180).
3. Quogue Elementary School, Quogue
New York rank: No. 72 (2026: No. 170). National rank: No. 490 (2026: not ranked).
4. Montauk School, Montauk
New York rank: No. 73 (2026: No. 303). National rank: No. 507 (2026: not ranked).
5. Nassakeag Elementary School, Three Village
New York rank: No. 123 (2026: No. 52).
6. Lloyd Harbor School, Cold Spring Harbor
New York rank: No. 126 (2026: No. 94).
7. James H. Boyd Elementary School, Elwood
New York rank: No. 166 (2026: No. 204).
8. Thomas J. Lahey Elementary School, Harborfields
New York rank: No. 188 (2026: No. 142).
9. Sunquam Elementary School, Half Hollow Hills
New York rank: No. 194 (2026: No. 85).
10. Signal Hill Elementary School, Half Hollow Hills
New York rank: No. 203 (2026: No. 114).
The full rankings are at niche.com.
Top: Facebook/Half Hollow Hills
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