2024 Best Schools in Ulster County

• New Paltz Central School District, NY•

• 9-12

• •
  Rating 3.68 out of 5  139 reviews

Senior: New Paltz Senior High School never fails to make a safe environment for their students. The teacher overall are very respective and want the best for their students future. They will always be there to help. Faculty and staff are amazing in keeping their students safe and providing the best experience for them overall. If I could change anything then it would be that this school does lack diversity, however it never fails to spread culture whenever they can.... Read 139 reviews

• grade A

• Students 651

• Student-teacher ratio 11:1

• Onteora Central School District, NY•

• 9-12

• •
  Rating 3.62 out of 5  110 reviews

Junior: Overall I’d like to say that my time at Onteora isnt all that bad! I’ve enjoyed many clubs and school activities, it’s a rather good school and I think that so far, while not perfect, it’s handled the pandemic education issue rather well. I learned more over quarantine than I thought I would... Read 110 reviews

• grade A minus

• Students 427

• Student-teacher ratio 10:1

• Marlboro Central School District, NY•

• 9-12

• •
  Rating 3.53 out of 5  111 reviews

Alum: Attending Marlboro helped me to prepare for the college curriculum. I was able to accumulate a total of 19 college credits from the school with a variety of college and AP courses to choose from. The only downfall would fall on the culture and the food. The culture is based on certain students with family in "higher places" being treated differently than your average student. For the food, at a certain point there was a time when they would introduce new meals for the students but in the same year it was taken away and went back to the basic food options that every school would have.... Read 111 reviews

• grade A minus

• Students 643

• Student-teacher ratio 13:1

• Saugerties, NY•

• Private School•

• PK, K-12

• •
  Rating 4 out of 5  1 review

Alum: Woodstock Day School has a individualized small college preparatory program, small classes, caring and invested teachers, excellent ceramics, media arts, and music programs. The English program prepares students for college level writing and students are able to take classes for college credit beginning Junior year, classes available in the past: Calculus, Pre-Calculus, College Algebra, English 101 and 102. The community of Woodstock Day School is welcoming, but it does lack diversity of race and class. The teachers are innovative, inspiring, and challenging, however, there are problems with organization and communication. The students of the school are multi-disciplinary and participate in many activities both at Woodstock Day School and outside the community. There are musical theater productions, music lessons, art lessons, art shows, sports and many more activities to participate in. ... Read 1 review

• grade A minus

• Students 197

• Student-teacher ratio 4:1

• Kingston City School District, NY•

• 9-12

• •
  Rating 3.42 out of 5  245 reviews

Alum: I loved the many opportunities that Kingston had to offer. But how funding was distributed seemed unfair when academic clubs that were winning medals at the state and national level received less money than the sports club. There are many bathrooms available at the school yet they are often closed to prevent students from vaping which is not a helpful solution at all. Some teachers are extremely helpful and great mentors but there are others who do the bare minimum. The administration at the school do not come up with efficient solutions. For example, they had to replace the plastic signs they already put up with metal ones due to a safety hazard. Instead of planning and thinking about the steps from beginning to end, the administration seem impulsive and waste money on this way.... Read 245 reviews

• grade A minus

• Students 1,894

• Student-teacher ratio 13:1

• Kingston City School District, NY•

• K-4

• grade B+

• Students 335

• Student-teacher ratio 12:1

• Onteora Central School District, NY•

• 7-8

• •
  Rating 2.86 out of 5  7 reviews

• grade B+

• Students 194

• Student-teacher ratio 9:1

• New Paltz Central School District, NY•

• 6-8

• grade B+

• Students 441

• Student-teacher ratio 8:1

• Highland Central School District, NY•

• 9-12

• •
  Rating 3.59 out of 5  74 reviews

Alum: Highland was honestly a great school with a very nurturing and encouraging learning environment for all. The best parts were all of the school-wide events held, and the community outreach with many opportunities for volunteering. The school hit a slump in the pandemic, when I graduated, but I'm sure it has gone back to the way it used to be before the pandemic. The school should be more attentive to allegations made against students, but other than that, a very great school to have grown up in with fantastic teachers and students.... Read 74 reviews

• grade B+

• Students 520

• Student-teacher ratio 13:1

• Highland Central School District, NY•

• K-5

• •
  Rating 4 out of 5  2 reviews

Alum: I had a great experience at Highland. I loved the teachers there. I had great teachers and great friends. However, a lot of the teachers I had are now gone as, as soon as they were hired they were laid off the next year. I didn't like that there wasn't a recess for each grade level. I finally got a recess when I was in fourth and fifth grade, but that's because my teacher (who is gone now) pushed for a recess for all kids.... Read 2 reviews

• grade B+

• Students 672

• Student-teacher ratio 10:1

• New Paltz Central School District, NY•

• 3-5

• grade B+

• Students 351

• Student-teacher ratio 9:1

• Wallkill Central School District, NY•

• 9-12

• •
  Rating 3.66 out of 5  148 reviews

Senior: Wallkill is like a small family. The school, teachers, faculty are heavily involved in helping me achieve my academic success and getting me ready for the next phase of my life. I came from a charter school in SC and was not sure what I would be expecting from an education standpoint. The level of success I have achieved this year is a testament to the kind of teachers Wallkill has. I am so happy I made the move for my senior year and would not change a thing.... Read 148 reviews

• grade B+

• Students 999

• Student-teacher ratio 13:1

• Onteora Central School District, NY•

• K-3

• grade B+

• Students 150

• Student-teacher ratio 8:1

• Kingston City School District, NY•

• K-4

• grade B+

• Students 218

• Student-teacher ratio 10:1

• Highland Central School District, NY•

• 6-8

• grade B

• Students 382

• Student-teacher ratio 10:1

• Wallkill Central School District, NY•

• K-6

• grade B

• Students 427

• Student-teacher ratio 10:1

• Marlboro Central School District, NY•

• 6-8

• •
  Rating 4 out of 5  1 review

Alum: A decent school. Kept relatively clean, with OK teachers. It is what you want it to be. Fast paced but could be fun if you go with it. A classic middle school, nothing too horrid but nothing to do a dance about either.... Read 1 review

• grade B

• Students 454

• Student-teacher ratio 10:1

• Rondout Valley Central School District, NY•

• PK, K-3

• grade B

• Students 259

• Student-teacher ratio 10:1

• Kingston City School District, NY•

• K-4

• grade B

• Students 294

• Student-teacher ratio 9:1

• Ellenville Central School District, NY•

• 7-12

• •
  Rating 3.25 out of 5  68 reviews

Niche User: Ellenville High School was a great place to experience cultural diversity as there was an emphasis by teachers and staff about how lucky we as students were to be in a school like that. The faculty and staff were top notch because they were always polite and helped students when they needed it the most. I feel like this school gets to much of a bad reputation because of where it is located, but I do not think that this is a fair assessment of the school as a whole. The programs that this school provides benefits students tremendously and allows them to gain skills that they may not have even known that they had. Overall this school is not perfect, however it has a very strong mission for its students and it delivers in the end.... Read 68 reviews

• grade B

• Students 755

• Student-teacher ratio 11:1

• Saugerties Central School District, NY•

• 9-12

• •
  Rating 3.33 out of 5  141 reviews

Junior: My personal experience with Saugerties High School has been entertaining and cheerful. Although most kids my age do not enjoy going to school, I do. This school is where I met my best friends and learned who I am as a person. It not only gave me the support everyone hopes to have in life, it showed me who I wanted to become growing up. I have not found a single teacher at this school who is not helpful and kind. These were the people that helped me shape my own personality growing up and gave me a role model to look up to. I would personally not change anything in this school and I am excited to continue learning who I am and about the world around me.... Read 141 reviews

• grade B minus

• Students 776

• Student-teacher ratio 12:1

• Wallkill Central School District, NY•

• 7-8

• grade B minus

• Students 458

• Student-teacher ratio 11:1

• Marlboro Central School District, NY•

• K-5

• •
  Rating 4 out of 5  3 reviews

Alum: Excellent elementary schools. Teachers are special and work hard for the kids. Going here gives you a very good chance of getting an excellent elementary school experience.... Read 3 reviews

• grade B minus

• Students 760

• Student-teacher ratio 11:1

• Kingston City School District, NY•

• 5-8

• •
  Rating 1 out of 5  2 reviews

• grade B minus

• Students 1,011

• Student-teacher ratio 10:1

• Saugerties Central School District, NY•

• PK, K-6

• grade B minus

• Students 352

• Student-teacher ratio 14:1