Summary:
The Upper Freehold Regional School District in New Jersey has only one elementary school, Newell Elementary School, which serves students from preschool through 4th grade. The school's academic performance has been declining in recent years, with its statewide ranking dropping from 649 out of 1,342 New Jersey elementary schools in 2022-2023 to 840 out of 1,347 in 2024-2025. Additionally, the school's performance rating has decreased from 3 out of 5 stars to 2 out of 5 stars over the same period.
Academically, Newell Elementary School's proficiency rates in English Language Arts are lower than the state average, with 29% of 3rd graders and 42.5% of 4th graders meeting or exceeding expectations in 2024-2025, compared to the state averages of 44.9% and 53.6%, respectively. In Mathematics, the school's 3rd-grade proficiency rate is slightly higher than the state average (49% vs. 49.8%), but its 4th-grade proficiency rate is lower (48.1% vs. 46.7%). The school's per-student spending of $11,192 for the 2018-2019 school year is relatively high, but this investment does not seem to be translating into consistently strong academic outcomes.
Despite the school's declining performance, it has a relatively low percentage of free and reduced-price lunch recipients at 6.81% in 2023-2024, and a student-teacher ratio of 10.8, which is lower than the state average. These factors suggest that the school may serve a relatively affluent student population, which could contribute to its academic performance. However, the district and school leaders may need to investigate the root causes of the school's declining performance and explore strategies to improve student outcomes, particularly in the area of English Language Arts.
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