The top reported proficiency rate is 86% in English language arts. The lowest is 46% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Avon Elementary School
Avon Elementary School is the single public school serving Avon-by-the-Sea, a small coastal borough on the Atlantic Ocean in Monmouth County. It is a regular public school for students in pre-kindergarten through eighth grade, and it is the only school in the Avon Boro School District. Because the district consists of just this one school, there is no high school on site. For ninth grade, students attend either Asbury Park High School or Manasquan High School through a sending-and-receiving lottery arrangement, so families should plan for that transition early.
The school is small, with a student body that is predominantly white and a modest share of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch. The borough itself is very compact, with a grid of residential streets and a seasonal shore-town character that peaks in the summer. The school building sits on Lincoln Avenue, a short distance from the borough offices on Main Street and the beach. Housing values in the area are high, reflecting a stable, affluent market with little room for new development given the borough's tiny land area. The population has been relatively flat in recent decades.
State testing results for the most recent school year show strong performance in English language arts, particularly in the lower and upper grades. The school's overall proficiency rate across tested subjects and grades places it in the top quartile relative to districts in Monmouth County, a meaningful strength. In ELA, third graders showed a solid proficiency rate, fourth graders were higher still, and eighth graders achieved a perfect rate. Math results were also solid, with third and fourth graders posting rates that were well above the county median, though results for grades five through seven were suppressed because of small testing groups, so a full picture for those grades is not available. Science testing in eighth grade showed a softer result, with about half of students meeting the state's proficiency criteria. Because the school is small and many grade-level cohorts are very small, the state suppresses results when the number of test-takers is too low to report reliably. A parent may want to ask the school for additional classroom-level information in those grades.
The school does not serve high school grades, so there is no graduation rate to report. Data on chronic absenteeism, discipline, and staffing were not available in the sources reviewed. Information on students with disabilities and English learners was also missing. These gaps often reflect the small size of the school, but a parent may want to ask the district directly for more detail on student support services.
For a family looking at Avon-by-the-Sea, this school offers a strong academic foundation in a very small, close-knit setting. The top-quartile proficiency ranking is a genuine strength. The trade-off is that the school's size means fewer course options and a more limited range of programs than a larger district might offer. The sending relationship for high school adds a layer of complexity when planning for the secondary years, and the local housing market is expensive. For families who value a small, high-performing elementary and middle school in a seasonal beach community and are comfortable navigating the high school choice process, Avon Elementary School is a good fit.
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