Belleville Ps9, Belleville NJ - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Belleville Ps9

Belleville PS9 is a regular public elementary school in the Belleville Public School District, serving kindergarten through sixth grade. It is one of ten schools in the district, and its students feed into the district's middle and high schools. The school is located in a residential neighborhood of Belleville, a densely populated township in Essex County that has transitioned from an industrial past to a community of homes and local stores. The public schools are integrated into the township's neighborhoods rather than gathered on a single campus.

The student body is small for an elementary school serving this grade span. The school's enrollment is predominantly Hispanic, with a much smaller share of white students and even smaller shares of Asian and Black students. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating a high level of economic need in the student population. Data on the share of students with disabilities and English learners was not available in the source data.

State assessment results from the New Jersey Student Learning Assessments show a mixed picture that varies by subject and grade level. In English language arts, the school's performance is a clear strength. Across the tested grades, a majority of students met or exceeded the state's proficiency standard, with the highest grade showing a particularly strong result. This pattern suggests that literacy instruction is a relative strength of the school, especially as students move through the upper elementary grades.

In mathematics, the results are more uneven. In some grades, roughly half of students met the proficiency standard, while in one grade the share was notably lower. This creates a pattern where math performance is inconsistent across the grade levels, and a parent may want to ask the school about how math instruction is structured and whether there are targeted supports for students who are not yet meeting the benchmark. Science results, which are tested only in fifth grade, were low, with a small share of students reaching the state's proficiency standard. This is a soft spot in the school's academic profile, and a parent may want to look into this further with the school to understand the science curriculum and any interventions in place.

When compared to other districts in Essex County, Belleville PS9's overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades sits above the midpoint. This is a meaningful point of reference, as it places the school in the upper half of a large and diverse county that includes both high-performing suburban districts and urban districts facing significant challenges.

The school's enrollment is small, with roughly even class sizes across the elementary grades. The school does not serve high school grades, so there is no graduation rate to report. No data on chronic absenteeism was available. Information on course access, staffing ratios, and discipline was also not provided.

Belleville itself is a densely populated residential township that has moved away from its industrial past. The public schools are spread across the community rather than on a single campus. Major employers include the school district and the township government. Branch Brook Park, which borders the township, is a notable civic anchor, and the Silver Lake station provides light rail access to Newark. The township has seen steady population growth in recent years.

The Belleville Public School District approved a bond referendum in early 2022 to fund facility improvements across multiple school buildings, including roof replacements, HVAC upgrades, security enhancements, and ADA compliance projects. This represents a significant investment in the physical infrastructure of the district's schools.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 350%

School 50% · District 32% · ▲ 18 pts above district

even with state median · ▲ 11 pts above county median

Grade 430%

School 30% · District 33% · ▼ 4 pts below district

▼ 16 pts below state median · ▼ 9 pts below county median

Grade 540%

School 40% · District 30% · ▲ 10 pts above district

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

Grade 650%

School 50% · District 22% · ▲ 28 pts above district

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

English language arts

Grade 350%

School 50% · District 34% · ▲ 16 pts above district

▲ 5 pts above state median · ▲ 9 pts above county median

Grade 474%

School 74% · District 53% · ▲ 21 pts above district

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

Grade 565%

School 65% · District 51% · ▲ 14 pts above district

▲ 11 pts above state median · ▲ 17 pts above county median

Grade 686%

School 86% · District 53% · ▲ 33 pts above district

▲ 32 pts above state median · ▲ 36 pts above county median

Science

Grade 520%

School 20% · District 18% · ▲ 2 pts above district

▼ 7 pts below state median · ▲ 3 pts above county median

This schoolBelleville 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.