Top 10 Elementary Schools, According To NJ’s School Report Cards

NEW JERSEY — Nine of the top 10 best-scoring elementary schools in New Jersey’s school report cards are in North Jersey, Department of Education data shows.

Along with the school performance reports released the first week of April are school-by-school summative scores for each school as well as ratings, which assign each school a number score that measures how well the building is doing in academic achievement and progress compared with its peers.

Many of NJ’s 2,364 public schools are included on the ratings list, though some were left off if there was not enough data to calculate a proper score.

"Summative scores" provide a number from 1-99, and are based on factors such as graduation rates, proficiency and progress in English language arts and math, and chronic absenteeism rates (students absent more than 10 percent of school days).

Elementary and middle school scores are based on absenteeism, standardized test scores and student progress, according to the state Department of Education. This includes both growth and proficiency in English language arts and math, and students' English language proficiency.

The ratings for high schools are based on graduation and absenteeism rates and standardized scores.

Higher scores are better, and certain schools with lower scores are put into categories for support and improvement. Due to the cancellation of statewide assessments in 2019-20 and 2020-21, student growth data are not available for those school years.

Schools are compared to one another based on grade level, as well, in the "summative ratings." For example, schools that only serve elementary students are compared with one another. These are percentile ratings from 1-100, so a school with a rating closer to 100 is among the best of its peers.

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• New NJ School Performance Reports Show Student Struggles Post-COVID
• School Ratings Return In NJ: See Where Your School Ranks

Here are the top 10 elementary schools in the state based on the NJ DOE’s reports for 2021-22.

Top 10 NJ elementary schools by report card score:

Luther Lee Emerson School (Demarest SD, Bergen Co.)
Summative score: 97.95
Summative rating: 100

Torey J. Sabatini School (Madison Public SD, Morris Co.)
Summative score: 97.69
Summative rating: 99.94

Harrison Elementary School (Livingston SD, Essex Co.)
Summative score: 95.32
Summative rating: 99.89

Southern Boulevard School (SD of the Chathams, Morris Co.)
Summative score: 94.94
Summative rating: 99.83

Walter Stillman School (Tenafly Public SD, Bergen Co.)
Summative score: 94.90
Summative rating: 99.77

Deerfield Elementary School (Mountainside SD, Union Co.)
Summative score: 94.84
Summative rating: 99.71

Manito Elementary School (Oakland Public SD, Bergen Co.)
Summative score: 94.30
Summative rating: 99.66

Upper School Elementary School (Englewood Cliffs SD, Bergen Co.)
Summative score: 94.26
Summative rating: 99.60

Hillside Elementary School (Allendale Public SD, Bergen Co.)
Summative score: 94.02
Summative rating: 99.54

A.E. Burling Elementary School (Pennsauken Township SD, Camden Co.)
Summative score: 93.93
Summative rating: 99.48

The scores were established to comply with the federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), which replaced the No Child Left Behind Act. The state did not score schools in 2019-20 and 2020-21, because the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted state testing and New Jersey was granted a waiver from accountability- related requirements under ESSA.

In every state, ESSA requires school districts to measure student performance and develop a “State Report Card” which parents can explore online, with quantifiable measurements like a score or a letter grade for how schools are performing. ESSA also requires states to report how much money, on average, they spend per student.

The summative scores are included in the NJ school performance reports, but not on the front page.