Caroline Elementary School is located on 20 acres in the Town of Caroline on Route 79, just west of the Village of Slaterville Springs. Construction of the school began in the fall of 1958 and 360 children occupied the building for the first time in the fall of 1959. An addition was built in 1967.

A major reorganization of the Ithaca School District elementary schools was passed in 1981. As a result of this reorganization, Caroline's boundaries were extended to include part of the former Belle Sherman Elementary School area, and families from the Bethel Grove, Snyder Hill, Eastern Heights, and Ellis Hollow regions were added to the Caroline community. The extension was enacted in September 1983, resulting in approximately 70 additional children attending Caroline. The sixth grade was transferred to the middle school in the same year, making Caroline a K-5 school.

Due to increasing enrollment, six additional classrooms were completed in January 1991. In 2005, the Varna Community was added to Caroline. At the present time, Caroline houses roughly 300 students in Pre-K-5. Upon completion of their fifth-grade year, Caroline students move on to DeWitt Middle School.

The region is entirely outside the boundaries of the City of Ithaca and includes portions of the towns of Ithaca, Dryden, and Caroline. The district includes the hamlets of Slaterville Springs, Caroline Center, Caroline, Varna, and Brooktondale. Other commonly referred to regions in the district include Bethel Grove, Eastern Heights, Snyder Hill, Ellis Hollow, Bald Hill, and Buffalo Hill. The school is unusual in that almost every student is a bus rider.

Caroline Elementary is a school that strives to include all children and help all students be successful.

• We believe all students can learn.

• We believe each student develops a positive self-image through successful, culturally diverse, and varied experiences.

• We believe in supporting and encouraging each student’s individual ability.

• We believe a strong and open home-school-community relationship is critical to the success of each student.

• We believe teacher expectations have a direct impact on student achievement.

• We believe all school personnel have an influence on the educational experience of each student.

All students and families at Caroline are both wanted and needed in order to make our community thrive.

Caren Arnold, Principal
carnold@icsd.k12.ny.us

Bart Auble, Educator of Inclusion
bauble@icsd.k12.ny.us

Melissa Todi, Attendance Clerk
melissa.todi@icsd.k12.ny.us

Kim Lattin, Caroline Secretary
klattin@icsd.k12.ny.us

Kristine Wills, School Nurse
kristine.wills@icsd.k12.ny.us

Main Office: (607) 539-7155