Summary:
ZIP code 08816 has two middle-level schools in East Brunswick Township School District: Churchill Junior High School, serving grades 7–9 with 2,080 students, and Hammarskjold Upper Elementary School, serving grades 5–6 with 1,221. Results are generally above state levels, especially in English language arts (ELA) and science, but math varies sharply by grade. The most important concern is Churchill’s grade-8 math: 11% proficient in 2025–26, 11 percentage points below the state, after 20% the prior year.
Hammarskjold stands out for consistently exceeding state results across all five reported grade-subject results: its average advantage was 17 points in ELA, 17 in math and 14 in science. Churchill also had strong ELA results, averaging 16 points above the state across grades 7–9, and its grade-8 Geometry proficiency was 97% versus 86% statewide, an 11-point advantage. Its grade-7 math was 57%, 19 points above the state, underscoring the contrast with grade 8. Because the schools serve different grades, the results do not support a same-grade comparison or an overall winner.
Recent trends favor ELA and science relative to the state, while math gaps weakened: ELA gaps grew in every repeated grade result, and science gaps increased by 3–4 points; in contrast, Churchill’s grade-8 math score fell 8 points as the state rose 2, widening its deficit by 10 points. SchoolDigger ranks Churchill 163rd of 743 schools, in the 78th percentile with four stars, for 2025–26; its listed rank improved from 213rd in 2023–24. In 2024–25, student-teacher ratios were 12.8 at Churchill and 10.2 at Hammarskjold. Free/reduced lunch eligible was 26% and 25%, respectively, in 2024–25—similar figures that provide context, not an explanation for results.
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