Elementary Schools in Burlington City Public School District

The Burlington City Public School District in New Jersey operates three elementary schools: Wilbur Watts Intermediate School, Samuel Smith Elementary School, and Captain James Lawrence Elementary School. The data analysis reveals that these schools are facing significant challenges in providing quality education to their students.

None of the three elementary schools in the district stand out as high-performing. All three schools have relatively low rankings within the state, with Wilbur Watts Intermediate School being the highest ranked at 1,057 out of 1,347 New Jersey elementary schools for the 2024-2025 school year. The other two schools, Samuel Smith Elementary and Captain James Lawrence Elementary, have even lower rankings, with historical rankings in the bottom quartile of the state. The test scores for all three schools are significantly below the state averages in both English Language Arts and Mathematics across all grade levels, with the performance gap being more pronounced in Mathematics.

Additionally, the schools have high rates of chronic absenteeism, with 14.9% of students being chronically absent in the 2023-2024 school year. The schools also serve a predominantly disadvantaged student population, with high percentages of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, ranging from 56.83% at Samuel Smith Elementary to 73.57% at Captain James Lawrence Elementary. The variation in per-student spending across the schools, combined with the similar student-teacher ratios, suggests that the district may not be allocating resources equitably or effectively to address the needs of its struggling schools.