The top reported proficiency rate is 78% in Math. The lowest is 66% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Lafayette Avenue School
Lafayette Avenue School is a regular public elementary school in Chatham, New Jersey, serving fourth and fifth graders within the School District of the Chathams. The school sits in a suburban borough that functions as a high-income commuter community for New York City, roughly a short drive west of Manhattan. Chatham is small in geographic area, with a traditional downtown along Main Street that includes a railroad station, shops, and municipal buildings. The borough shares a regional school district, library, and other services with neighboring Chatham Township, and the two are collectively known as the Chathams. The community is among the most affluent in New Jersey, and the housing market reflects that. Home values and rents in the area are very high, well above state and national medians. Families moving here should expect a competitive housing market with a limited supply of listings and strong demand.
Lafayette Avenue School itself draws from a student body that is majority white, with a sizable Asian student population and smaller shares of students who are Hispanic, two or more races, or Black. The share of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch is very small, consistent with the area’s overall affluence. Data on students with disabilities and English learners was not available in the profile, so a parent wanting to understand special education support or language services may need to follow up with the school directly.
Academically, the school performs at a high level. On New Jersey’s state assessments, a strong majority of students scored proficient or above in both English language arts and mathematics across the tested grade levels. In science, a solid majority also met proficiency standards. When compared with other districts in Morris County, Lafayette Avenue School’s overall proficiency index lands in the top quartile. This is a genuine strength. The school does not serve high school grades, so there is no graduation rate to report.
The school environment is shaped by its grade configuration. It is a transition point for students before they move to Chatham Middle School. Beginning in the 2025–26 academic year, the district is reconfiguring grade alignments across its schools. Lafayette Avenue School will shift from serving grades four and five to serving grades three and four. That change is driven by demographic trends and class-size considerations, and it will affect which grade a child attends at this building and when they move to the middle school. Parents whose children are in the pipeline or who are moving into the district in the next year or two should be aware of this structural shift.
Civic anchors in the community include the Passaic River, the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge nearby, and the Chatham railroad station on the Morris and Essex Lines. The area’s growth has been steady infill within a small footprint rather than large-scale development. The district’s schools are distributed across the borough and township rather than clustered on one campus.
In sum, Lafayette Avenue School offers a high-performing academic environment in a community with very high housing costs and a largely affluent, professional-parent population. Its grade band is narrow and about to shift, which matters for enrollment planning. Families who value strong standardized test scores, a suburban commuter setting, and a district that has the resources to reconfigure grades deliberately will find this a natural fit. Those concerned about economic diversity or special-population supports may want to ask more than the available data answers.
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