2 Essex County Schools Had Highest Test Passing Rates In NJ

ESSEX COUNTY, NJ — While state test scores hit a seven-year low this past spring amid the COVID pandemic, some public schools did well in certain subjects, according to New Jersey Student Learning Assessment scores recently released by the state.

Eleven institutions sustained a 100 percent passing rate in at least one exam in one grade — including, in Essex County, one district public school and a charter school .

Students didn't take the NJSLA in 2020 and 2021 because of COVID-19. The tests taken in spring 2022 were the first administered in three years.

Statewide average "passing" rates fell in all three subject areas: English language arts (57.6 percent in 2019, 48.9 percent last spring), math (44 percent to 35.4 percent) and science (25.4 percent to 23.2 percent).

Most New Jersey schools returned to full-time, in-person learning last year, although many went remote during pandemic spikes.

An estimated 10.5 million children around the world were orphaned or lost a primary caregiver because of COVID, according to a study published Sept. 6 in JAMA Pediatrics. Education Week says at least 451 teachers in the U.S. died from the virus.

Entire Grade Passed A Subject

But 11 schools had 100 percent passing rates in at least one exam for at least one grade level last spring, including a public school in Essex Fells and a charter school in Newark.

The schools are, along with number of students tested:

• Alpine Elementary School, Alpine School District, Bergen County: third-grade English language arts, 17 students.
• Avalon Elementary School, Avalon School District, Cape May County: seventh-grade English language arts, 12 students.
• Califon Public School, Califon Borough School District, Hunterdon County: sixth-grade English language arts, 11 students.
• Essex Fells Elementary School, Essex Fells School District, Essex County: fourth-grade English language arts, 31 students.
• The Gray Charter School, Newark, Essex County: seventh-grade English language arts, 18 students; seventh-grade math, 18 students.
• H.W. Mountz School, Spring Lake School District, Monmouth County: sixth-grade English language arts, 20 students; seventh-grade English language arts, 20 students.
• Infinity Institute, Jersey City Public Schools, Hudson County: eighth-grade English language arts, 85 students.
• Monmouth Beach Elementary School, Monmouth Beach School District, Monmouth County: seventh-grade English language arts, 24 students.
• School 28, Paterson Public Schools, Passaic County: third-grade English language arts, 24 students; fourth-grade English language arts, 31 students; seventh-grade English language arts, 37 students; eighth-grade English language arts, 39 students; third-grade math, 24 students; fourth-grade math, 31 students; sixth-grade math, 40 students.
• Sara M. Gilmore Academy, Union City School District, Hudson County: sixth-grade English language arts, 47 students.
• Sea Girt Elementary School, Sea Girt Borough School District, Monmouth County: fifth-grade math, 10 students.

For information on how your district did, see the searchable database compiled by NJ Spotlight.

READ MORE: NJ Test Scores Hit 7-Year Low: See How Your District Did

Editor Josh Bakan contributed to this story.