At a Glance
A small Catholic elementary on Staten Island where academics, faith, and even woodworking shape the day.
Best suited for
Catholic or faith-curious Staten Island families who want a small, academically serious elementary school with hands-on programs and strong high school entrance exam preparation.
What stands out
- Woodworking is offered as an elementary program, an unusual hands-on craft opportunity for this age group.
- Rare for an elementary school, athletics include cross country and track alongside basketball and bowling.
- Rolling admissions give families flexibility rather than a fixed application deadline.
- NCEA accreditation signals commitment to recognized Catholic educational standards.
- With 177 students total, the school offers the kind of intimate setting where teachers can know nearly every child by name.
Things to consider
- Parent reviews are mixed, with strong academic praise alongside concerns about bullying and uneven treatment that families should investigate firsthand.
- An 18.6:1 student-teacher ratio is solid but not unusually small, so the "personal" feel comes more from total enrollment than from class size alone.
- The Roman Catholic identity will be a daily presence, not background flavor, which may or may not match your family's expectations.
- Staten Island families are best served geographically; for many Brooklyn or Queens parents, the commute would be a serious factor.
- The student body is demographically narrow, so families seeking a richly diverse peer environment may want to look elsewhere.
Identity
A Roman Catholic coeducational elementary serving pre-K through fifth grade, the school emphasizes academic excellence within a nurturing Christian community grounded in service, reverence, and leadership. It holds accreditation from the National Catholic Educational Association, signaling adherence to recognized Catholic school standards.
Community
The student body is predominantly white, with smaller shares of Asian, Black, and Hispanic students, and a diversity index in the lower-middle range. With only 177 students total, families will find a small, close environment where most classmates know each other well.
Neighborhood
The school sits on Hylan Boulevard in a middle-income Staten Island neighborhood where the median household income sits in the low $80,000s and roughly a third of adults hold a bachelor's degree. The surrounding area is a mostly residential South Shore community with a working- and middle-class mix of families.
Old Town on the Staten Island Railway is about a two-minute walk from the school, with Grasmere (SIR) about nine minutes and Dongan Hills (SIR) around 16 minutes on foot.
Notable Programs
What Parents Are Saying
Mixed reviews - parents praise academic rigor, teachers going above and beyond, and strong preparation for high school entrance exams. Some concerns about bullying and unfair treatment noted in negative reviews.
Synthesized from public parent reviews · Apr 2026
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Frequently Asked Questions
- Is ACADEMY OF ST DOROTHY a good school?
- Published quality ratings aren't available for ACADEMY OF ST DOROTHY yet on Motley. It's a private school serving grades Pre-K to 5 in Grasmere-Arrochar-South Beach-Dongan Hills.
- What grades does ACADEMY OF ST DOROTHY serve?
- ACADEMY OF ST DOROTHY serves grades Pre-K to 5.
- How do students get into ACADEMY OF ST DOROTHY?
- ACADEMY OF ST DOROTHY runs its own private admissions process — typically an application, a visit, and sometimes testing.
- Is ACADEMY OF ST DOROTHY public, charter, or private?
- ACADEMY OF ST DOROTHY is a private school.
- What neighborhood is ACADEMY OF ST DOROTHY in?
- ACADEMY OF ST DOROTHY is in Grasmere-Arrochar-South Beach-Dongan Hills, Staten Island.