Alpine Elementary School, Alpine NJ

Original Research by School Decision on Alpine Elementary School

Alpine Elementary School serves students from kindergarten through eighth grade in the single-school Alpine Public School District. The school occupies a separated campus in a borough that is among the most affluent and exclusive residential communities in the United States. Alpine has no downtown, no commercial districts, and a very low-density pattern of large estates along winding roads that are heavily car-dependent. The school is the borough’s only public institution for children, and it sends its graduates to high schools outside the district, so there is no graduation rate to report here.

Academically, the school’s performance on New Jersey’s state assessments is very strong compared to other districts across Bergen County. The overall proficiency index across tested subjects and grades places this school among the top-performing in the county. In English language arts, proficiency rates are consistently high across every grade from third through eighth, and in several grades the share of students meeting the state’s college- and career-ready benchmark is at the maximum possible. Math scores are also solid, with most grades showing a majority of students proficient, though one grade’s results were suppressed for privacy reasons, so a full picture of middle-school math is not available. In science, fifth-grade results are high, while eighth-grade results are somewhat lower, a pattern a parent may want to look into further with the school.

The student body is small. The racial and ethnic composition is predominantly white, with a substantial Asian population and smaller shares of Black, Hispanic, and multiracial students. Data on how many students qualify for free or reduced-price meals, receive special education services, or are English learners is not reported, so it is not possible to describe the economic or learning-support profile from public records. The school does not report chronic absenteeism data either, and no program offerings such as music, arts, or advanced courses are listed in the available information. A parent interested in those details would need to contact the school directly.

Alpine’s housing market is among the most expensive in the country, with home values that far exceed national and state medians. The borough has seen a modest population decline in recent decades, constrained by large-lot zoning, high real estate costs, and limited land. There is virtually no new housing development. The community’s civic anchors are not downtown but along the Palisades Interstate Park, which provides recreational access along the Hudson River. There are no major employers other than municipal facilities and a historic radio tower.

The district itself reports no recent changes of lasting impact, and the school has operated as a regular public school without charter or magnet status, and without a reported Title I designation. For families who can afford the extraordinary cost of living in Alpine, this school offers a small, high-performing academic environment from kindergarten through eighth grade, with the understanding that high school will be elsewhere and that certain kinds of student-support data are not public. The school’s strength is its consistently strong results in core subjects, especially literacy, in a setting where class sizes are small and the community is highly resourced.

See more original research from School Decision →

Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 359%

School 59% · District 59%

▲ 9 pts above state median · ▼ 10 pts below county median

Grade 467%

School 67% · District 67%

▲ 21 pts above state median · ▲ 1 pts above county median

Grade 585%

School 85% · District 85%

▲ 42 pts above state median · ▲ 22 pts above county median

Grade 665%

School 65% · District 65%

▲ 31 pts above state median · ▲ 5 pts above county median

Grade 767%

School 67% · District 67%

▲ 32 pts above state median · ▲ 10 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 365%

School 65% · District 65%

▲ 19 pts above state median · ▲ 1 pts above county median

Grade 4100%

School 100% · District 100%

▲ 45 pts above state median · ▲ 27 pts above county median

Grade 592%

School 92% · District 92%

▲ 38 pts above state median · ▲ 20 pts above county median

Grade 688%

School 88% · District 88%

▲ 34 pts above state median · ▲ 11 pts above county median

Grade 792%

School 92% · District 92%

▲ 35 pts above state median · ▲ 14 pts above county median

Grade 8100%

School 100% · District 100%

▲ 42 pts above state median · ▲ 26 pts above county median

Science

Grade 585%

School 85% · District 85%

▲ 57 pts above state median · ▲ 43 pts above county median

Grade 863%

School 63% · District 63%

▲ 50 pts above state median · ▲ 37 pts above county median

This schoolAlpine Public 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.