Summary:
ZIP code 08050 has three elementary schools in the Stafford Township School District: Ronald L. Meinders Primary Learning Center serves PK–K, Ocean Acres Elementary School serves grades 1–2, and McKinley Avenue Elementary School serves grades 3–4. Test results are available only for McKinley, so the data cannot establish which school performs best academically. The most important finding in those results is a grade-level split in 2025–2026: McKinley was below state results in both grade 3 subjects but above them in both grade 4 subjects.
Chronic absenteeism distinguishes the schools most clearly: Meinders had the highest rate, at 23% in 2024–2025, while McKinley had the lowest, at 13%; Ocean Acres was between them at 18%. Meinders was 9 percentage points above the state rate of 14%, while McKinley was 2 points below it. Ocean Acres was 3 points above the state. The schools’ free/reduced lunch eligible figures for 2024–2025 were fairly close: 25% at Meinders, 27% at Ocean Acres, and 30% at McKinley. These are useful context about the schools, not evidence of what drives their results.
McKinley’s results changed unevenly between 2024–2025 and 2025–2026: grade 4 ELA fell 12 percentage points, while grade 3 ELA rose 2 points; grade 3 math was nearly unchanged, and grade 4 math fell 2 points. Its unweighted average across the four grade-subject results dropped 3 points, compared with a 1-point decline for the state. SchoolDigger’s ranking history also moved down, from the 59th percentile in 2023–2024 to the 49th in 2025–2026, a 10-percentile-point decline; this reflects relative standing, not a 10-point proficiency change. Student-teacher ratios are similar across the schools, ranging from 12.6 at McKinley to 12.9 at Ocean Acres.
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