Geraldine Johnson School, Bridgeport CT

Original Research by School Decision on Geraldine Johnson School

Geraldine Johnson School serves pre-K through eighth grade and enrolls a diverse student body in a school serving Bridgeport's neighborhoods. The school is part of the Bridgeport School District, which has undergone significant fiscal strain and state intervention in recent years that directly shape what families encounter here.

The school's academic performance is measurably low across tested grades and subjects. In math, proficiency rates across grades 3 through 8 cluster between roughly 12 percent and 24 percent, with the upper middle grades (7 and 8) showing the highest rates. In English language arts, results are similar or lower, ranging from around 8 percent in grade 3 to suppressed reporting in grade 8. In science, tested in grades 5 and 8, proficiency sits around 16 percent and 23 percent respectively. When averaged across all tested subjects and grades, the school's overall proficiency index places it in the bottom quartile among the Greater Bridgeport Planning Region's districts.

These results reflect a learning environment shaped by the constraints now facing the wider district. In April 2025, the school board approved cuts including elimination of teaching positions, paraprofessionals, busing for a substantial number of students, and all district librarians. The district also adopted new scripted curricula in ELA for grades 6 through 12 beginning in the 2024–25 school year, with mandated daily scripts and tight pacing that require teachers to follow a structured instructional script with no flexibility in timing. This represents a significant shift in how classroom instruction is delivered, and it came with limited teacher input.

Beyond these operational constraints, the school serves a student population facing substantial economic barriers. A very large share of students—over 90 percent—qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. The school's enrollment is racially and ethnically diverse: about two-thirds of students identify as Hispanic, roughly a quarter as Black, and smaller shares as white, Asian, and other groups. The school is not a Title I or charter school and is organized as a regular public school.

Geraldine Johnson sits in central Bridgeport near Lexington Avenue, in a mid-sized city where the majority of residents rent, median home values are below the state benchmark, and many neighborhoods are economically distressed, though waterfront revitalization projects are underway. The school's context is one of neighborhood-embedded public education under severe resource pressure—a setting where families should expect limited enrichment offerings, transportation challenges due to busing cuts, and the effects of a system managing ongoing fiscal deficits and state oversight.

Data on student demographics including English learner status and special education enrollment were not available. State testing data captures only grades where the state administers assessments, so results for pre-K through grade 2 are not reported.

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Academic performance

How students perform on state tests, by grade, set against the district.

Math

Grade 318%

School 18% · District 18%

▼ 37 pts below state median · ▼ 22 pts below county median

Grade 414%

School 14% · District 14% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▼ 38 pts below state median · ▼ 18 pts below county median

Grade 513%

School 13% · District 11% · ▲ 2 pts above district

▼ 30 pts below state median · ▼ 10 pts below county median

Grade 615%

School 15% · District 15%

▼ 24 pts below state median · ▼ 7 pts below county median

Grade 717%

School 17% · District 18% · ▼ 1 pts below district

▼ 26 pts below state median · ▼ 12 pts below county median

Grade 824%

School 24% · District 18% · ▲ 6 pts above district

▼ 15 pts below state median · ▼ 1 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 38%

School 8% · District 17% · ▼ 8 pts below district

▼ 40 pts below state median · ▼ 28 pts below county median

Grade 413%

School 13% · District 18% · ▼ 5 pts below district

▼ 43 pts below state median · ▼ 44 pts below county median

Grade 514%

School 14% · District 19% · ▼ 5 pts below district

▼ 43 pts below state median · ▼ 34 pts below county median

Grade 614%

School 14% · District 21% · ▼ 7 pts below district

▼ 37 pts below state median · ▼ 16 pts below county median

Grade 718%

School 18% · District 26% · ▼ 8 pts below district

▼ 32 pts below state median · ▼ 20 pts below county median

Science

Grade 516%

School 16% · District 20% · ▼ 3 pts below district

▼ 36 pts below state median · ▼ 13 pts below county median

Grade 823%

School 23% · District 23%

▼ 26 pts below state median · ▼ 2 pts below county median

This schoolBridgeport School District, same grade

Graduation rate (ACGR) reflects the federally published Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate for the most recent year available. We refresh this data annually at the close of each academic year in June. The federal source publishes a banded rate (for example, "90-94%") instead of an exact number for cohorts small enough to risk identifying individual students. The state distribution chart, where shown, plots every school in the state with a published rate or band; schools whose rate is federally suppressed are excluded. Where the federal source publishes a band rather than an exact rate, the school is placed within its band using a stable, ID-derived offset, so its position is consistent across visits.