Capital District Times

The majority of students in Rensselaer County schools during the 2021-22 school year were white, according to the New York State Education Department.

Of the 17,836 students attending Rensselaer County schools, 70.8% were white. Black students were the second largest ethnicity, making up 10.1% of Rensselaer County students.

In the previous school year, white was also the most common student ethnicity in Rensselaer County, representing 73.3% of the student body.

Carroll Hill School had the most even distribution of races among county schools, with 29.4% Black students, 27.9% white students, 22.9% Hispanic students, 19.1% multiracial students, and 0.6% Asian or Pacific Islander students.

In the 2022-23 school year, the total number of students enrolled in public schools in the county dropped to 1.7% when compared to the previous year.

In 2022, New York had roughly one teacher for every 12 students, which is lower than the national average of one teacher for every 16 students. A lower student-to-teacher ratio has been found to help improve students' school performance.

A 2021 report from the NYC Center for Innovation Through Data Intelligence revealed racial and gender groups were seeing better outcomes compared to 2013, though significant disparities remained between different groups, particularly between Black and Hispanic students.

School name	Most prevalent ethnicity	Percent of Total Student Body	Total Enrollment
Algonquin Middle School	White	90.4%	585
Averill Park High School	White	90.3%	897
Bell Top School	White	77.8%	306
Berlin Elementary School	White	95.2%	273
Berlin Middle School/High School	White	96.9%	360
Carroll Hill School	Black	29.4%	340
Castleton Elementary School	White	94.2%	467
Citizen Edmond Genet School	White	69.1%	466
Columbia High School	White	78%	1,253
Donald P. Sutherland School	White	87.1%	232
Gardner-Dickinson School	White	91.9%	335
Green Meadow School	White	80.7%	362
Hoosic Valley Elementary School	White	94.8%	459
Hoosic Valley Junior Senior High School	White	92.5%	398
Hoosick Falls Elementary School	White	92%	398
Hoosick Falls Junior/Senior High School	White	90.2%	328
Howard L. Goff School	White	74.4%	978
Knickerbacker Middle School	White	51.2%	471
Lansingburgh Senior High School	White	54.9%	639
Maple Hill Junior/Senior High School	White	92.2%	410
Miller Hill School	White	93.2%	385
North Greenbush School	White	100%	31
P.S. 14	White	34.1%	425
P.S. 16	White	48.4%	248
P.S. 18	White	62.1%	309
P.S. 2	Black	47.1%	278
Poestenkill Elementary School	White	93.4%	346
Red Mill School	White	69.3%	456
Rensselaer Junior/Senior High School	White	47.1%	522
Rensselaer Park Elementary School	White	53.3%	441
Tamarac Elementary School	White	90.5%	493
Tamarac Middle School High School	White	88.7%	602
Troy High School	White	42.1%	1,154
Troy Middle School	White	35.4%	786
Turnpike Elementary School	White	58.6%	534
Van Rensselaer Elementary School	White	47.1%	493
West Sand Lake Elementary School	White	92.6%	376