John Hill School, Boonton NJ - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on John Hill School

John Hill School serves students in grades three through eight in Boonton, a small, densely settled town in Morris County. It is a regular public school within the Boonton Town Public School District, drawing its enrollment entirely from the town itself. The school building sits on Lathrop Avenue, and while the exact location relative to downtown was not identified in available materials, Boonton's civic life is concentrated along Main Street and Washington Street, where Town Hall and Grace Lord Park anchor the community.

Academically, John Hill shows a split picture when measured on the New Jersey Student Learning Assessments. English language arts results are a clear strength, particularly in the upper grades. Performance in seventh and eighth grade stands out, with a large majority of students meeting the proficiency threshold. Earlier grades also perform reasonably well, with roughly half of students scoring proficient. Math presents more variation. Third and seventh graders show solid proficiency rates, while fourth, fifth, and sixth graders fall in a moderate range. Eighth grade math is a soft spot, with a smaller share of students reaching proficiency. In science, fifth graders test at a moderate level, but eighth grade science results are notably lower, a gap a parent may want to explore further with the school. Across all tested subjects and grades, the school's overall proficiency index sits below the midpoint among districts in Morris County, a high-performing county overall where many districts score well above state averages.

The school enrolls a midsize student body for its grade band. The student population is diverse: roughly half White, with a substantial Hispanic representation, a notable Asian presence, and a smaller but significant Black population. Students from two or more races and Native American or Pacific Islander communities each make up a small share. More than a third of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating a meaningful segment of families with lower household income. Data on English learner and special education enrollment were not available, so the full picture of student support needs is incomplete.

Boonton itself is a compact town with historic roots in the iron industry, now home to a mix of high-tech firms, restaurants, and antique shops. The Rockaway River flows through downtown, and Grace Lord Park offers walking trails and a summer concert series. Housing in Morris County commands high prices; the local market is costly relative to national benchmarks. The town has seen modest population growth, and its small land area limits large-scale expansion, suggesting infill and redevelopment shape the housing stock.

The district brief flags one structural feature that shapes the broader school system: Boonton High School operates under a long-standing sending-and-receiving relationship with Lincoln Park, whose students make up a majority of the high school's enrollment and hold a dedicated seat on the board of education. This arrangement affects the high school primarily, and John Hill, as a grade three through eight school, does not directly experience it, but families considering the full K-12 pathway should be aware that the district's high school serves two towns with distinct governance dynamics.

Because John Hill does not serve high school grades, there is no graduation rate to report. The school's middle school science and eighth grade math results are the most obvious areas where a parent might seek additional information on curriculum, intervention programs, or teacher support. For families who value a small-town setting, a diverse student body, and a school where English language arts outcomes in the upper grades are a clear point of pride, John Hill fits that profile. Those looking for uniformly strong math and science performance across all middle school grades may want to ask the school directly about how it addresses the uneven results.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 364%

School 64% · District 64%

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

Grade 439%

School 39% · District 39%

▼ 7 pts below state median · ▼ 26 pts below county median

Grade 544%

School 44% · District 44%

▲ 1 pts above state median · ▼ 23 pts below county median

Grade 639%

School 39% · District 39%

▲ 5 pts above state median · ▼ 16 pts below county median

Grade 764%

School 64% · District 64%

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

Grade 828%

School 28% · District 28%

▲ 11 pts above state median · ▼ 4 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 349%

School 49% · District 49%

▲ 3 pts above state median · ▼ 11 pts below county median

Grade 454%

School 54% · District 54%

▼ 2 pts below state median · ▼ 18 pts below county median

Grade 552%

School 52% · District 52%

▼ 2 pts below state median · ▼ 22 pts below county median

Grade 653%

School 53% · District 53%

▼ 1 pts below state median · ▼ 19 pts below county median

Grade 780%

School 80% · District 80%

▲ 23 pts above state median · ▲ 3 pts above county median

Grade 873%

School 73% · District 73%

▲ 15 pts above state median · ▼ 4 pts below county median

Science

Grade 539%

School 39% · District 39%

▲ 12 pts above state median · ▼ 8 pts below county median

Grade 817%

School 17% · District 17%

▲ 4 pts above state median · ▼ 14 pts below county median

This schoolBoonton Town 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.

Proficiency by household income

English language arts

Grade 3Lower-income26%Higher-income61%35 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income27%Higher-income76%49 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income34%Higher-income65%30 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income41%Higher-income68%26 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income64%Higher-income90%27 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income72%Higher-income74%1 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income43%Higher-income76%33 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income14%Higher-income60%47 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income19%Higher-income61%41 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income23%Higher-income60%37 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income32%Higher-income85%52 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income21%Higher-income34%13 pp gap