Our Community
Glens Falls is a small city of about 15,000 residents within the Adirondack region of upstate New York. More than 65 industries are represented in the greater business community, including medical device manufacturing, media management, and pulp/paper product production. The city is located north of Saratoga Springs, on the banks of the Hudson River. Cultural offerings include the Charles R. Wood Theater, the Glens Falls Symphony (whose home stage is none other than our High School auditorium), the Hyde Art Museum, the Chapman Historical Museum, and the Cool Insuring Arena. Glens Falls is also the home of a NY Collegiate Baseball League team, as well as an ECHL Hockey Team.
Our Schools
Glens Falls City Schools provide UPK-12 public education for approximately 2,000 students living in the City of Glens Falls and part of the Town of Queensbury. Our small-city district covers approximately four square miles, and students walk to and from one of three neighborhood elementary schools, or the middle and high school, which are situated next-door to each other on Quade Street.
Big Cross Street, Jackson Heights and Kensington Road elementary schools serve students in Universal Pre-Kindergarten through fourth grade.
Glens Falls Middle School educates students in grades 5-8, and students in grades 9-12 attend Glens Falls High School. Students from our neighboring district, Abraham Wing (Glens Falls Common School District), tuition into GFSD beginning in seventh grade, and graduate with a Glens Falls diploma.
Our Commitment to Excellence
In 2012, 2016, 2017, and again in 2018, Glens Falls High School earned a Silver Medal in the U.S. News and World Report ranking of best high schools in the country — placing the top 18% of high schools in New York State and the top 7% nationally. In 2013, the high school was ranked 19th out of 85 schools in the Capital Region in The Business Review’s annual Schools Report.
Glens Falls Middle School has been designated an Essential Elements School to Watch four times—most recently in 2018. This highly selective recognition honors academic excellence, organizational structure and commitment to enhancing the school’s program and practices. Only 18 schools in New York State won in 2012.
Our Mission
The mission of the Glens Falls City School District is to provide a safe, positive and stimulating environment — one that fosters self growth, a passion for continuous learning, confidence and the ability to succeed in a changing world.
We promote excellence through high expectations and evolving standards for students, staff, parents and community. The challenge is to reach one’s personal best while respecting each person’s individuality.
We make it our responsibility to be accountable for the implementation of this mission and to model behaviors that are influential to the character as well as the mind.