The top reported proficiency rate is 66% in Math. The lowest is 52% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Samuel R. Donald Elementary School
Samuel R. Donald Elementary School serves grades two through four in Bloomingdale, a small borough in Passaic County that functions as a residential suburb of New York City. It is one of three schools in the Bloomingdale School District, sitting between Martha B. Day Elementary (pre-K through first grade) and Walter T. Bergen Middle School (grades five through eight). High school students from the district attend Butler High School in neighboring Morris County under a sending-receiving arrangement. The school building itself, originally constructed in an earlier era, is a local landmark that ties the borough to its 19th-century past.
On state assessments in math and English language arts, the school's results show a clear pattern. In math, third graders and fourth graders both performed well, with fourth graders posting a particularly strong outcome. In English language arts, the picture is more mixed: fourth graders outperformed third graders by a noticeable margin, while third-grade ELA results were softer. Across all tested grades and subjects, the school's overall proficiency places it among the strongest in Passaic County, well above the midpoint of districts in the county. This is a meaningful strength given the diversity of school performance across the county.
Enrollment at Samuel R. Donald is modest for a school serving three grade levels, with a student body that is predominantly white and Hispanic, along with smaller shares of Asian, Black, and multiracial students. About a quarter of the school's students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a rate that is relatively low compared to many districts in the county. Data on students with disabilities and English learners was not available; a parent may want to ask the school directly about these supports.
The borough of Bloomingdale is a low-density community with four membership lake communities and a small commercial corridor along the Paterson-Hamburg Turnpike. It has a mix of older homes and lakefront neighborhoods, and it is served by NJ Transit bus service to the Port Authority Bus Terminal in New York. Housing values in the area have been moderately above the national median, with a typical home price that reflects the borough's position as a commuter suburb. The local housing market has seen a modest uptick in active listings recently.
A recent and lasting change in the district is the launch of full-day kindergarten at Martha B. Day Elementary, which began in September 2024 after previous referendums had failed. The district funded the program through state grants and its regular budget, so full-day kindergarten is now a permanent offering. For families with young children, this is a practical consideration: the district's early elementary sequence now includes a full-day option before students move to Samuel R. Donald for second grade. There is no evidence of major new housing developments or rapid population growth in Bloomingdale; the borough's population has been relatively stable over recent decades, with a slight decline in the most recent estimate.
For a family considering this school, the takeaway is a public elementary school serving the middle elementary years in a small, stable suburb with above-average academic performance relative to the county. The school does not extend past fourth grade, so students will move to the district's middle school and then to a high school in a neighboring district. The community is auto-oriented and residential, with lake amenities and bus access to New York City. The main academic soft spot visible in the data is third-grade English language arts, where proficiency was lower than in other tested grades and subjects. A parent may want to discuss with the school how reading instruction and support are structured in the early grades. The district's new full-day kindergarten may also be a factor for families entering the system earlier.
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