Brigantine Community School, Brigantine NJ

Original Research by School Decision on Brigantine Community School

Brigantine Community School is the sole public school in Brigantine, a barrier-island shore town in Atlantic County. Serving students from prekindergarten through eighth grade, the school draws from a community that is primarily residential with a strong seasonal tourism component. Brigantine has an older, retirement-leaning population profile, and its year-round numbers have been declining gradually over the past few decades. The island is connected to the mainland by a single bridge, which shapes the town’s character and its relative isolation from the broader Atlantic City area. The school itself is the only public school in the Brigantine Public School District, meaning most local children attend here for their elementary and middle school years.

Academically, the school’s state testing results from the most recent year show a varied picture across grades and subjects. In English language arts, proficiency rates across grades three through eight fall mostly in the range of roughly two-fifths to three-quarters of students meeting the state’s bar, with the strongest showing in fifth grade. Math results also vary, with some grades above the half-proficient mark and others, particularly seventh and eighth grade, below it. Science testing in fifth grade shows around half of students proficient, while eighth grade science results are notably low. Taken together, the school’s overall proficiency index, which averages performance across tested subjects and grades, places it in the top quartile among districts in Atlantic County. That is a clear strength relative to its neighbors in the county. Still, a parent may want to look into the eighth grade science outcome further with the school, as it is a soft spot in an otherwise competitive profile.

Because Brigantine Community School only serves through eighth grade, there is no graduation rate to report here. Families will need to plan for high school elsewhere. A few local options exist in nearby Atlantic City and other communities, but the data does not indicate specific sending arrangements or school choice pathways. This is a gap a family should investigate directly.

The student body is predominantly white, with a moderate share of Hispanic and Asian students and a very small Black population. Slightly under a third of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a measure of economic need that is below the national average. The school’s enrollment is modest for a PK-8 building, with class sizes that appear manageable.

Housing in Brigantine reflects its desirability as a shore location. Home values are well above the national median, and the county housing market shows a steady level of listings and moderate price growth. The town has an older age profile, with a notable share of residents over sixty-five and a small share under eighteen, which may mean fewer school-age children in the immediate neighborhood than in more family-oriented suburbs. The local economy is shaped by tourism, small businesses, and proximity to Atlantic City, though specific employer data was not available.

The district brief turned up no recent changes in curriculum, facilities, or policy of lasting parent interest, so any school-level developments beyond the testing data are not documented here. Information on special education, English learner support, discipline rates, and staffing ratios was also absent. A family considering this school would be well served to visit, ask about those areas, and understand how the school supports students across the full range of academic needs.

This is a school that performs well compared to its county peers, particularly in English and math in the middle elementary grades, but with some unevenness in upper-level math and science. It sits in a mature, relatively expensive shore community with a quiet, older-feeling residential character. For a family that values a small, community-anchored school and can navigate the high school transition, it offers a solid foundation.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 355%

School 55% · District 55%

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

Grade 456%

School 56% · District 56%

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

Grade 574%

School 74% · District 74%

▲ 31 pts above state median · ▲ 48 pts above county median

Grade 651%

School 51% · District 51%

▲ 18 pts above state median · ▲ 24 pts above county median

Grade 742%

School 42% · District 42%

▲ 7 pts above state median · ▲ 12 pts above county median

Grade 833%

School 33% · District 33%

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

English language arts

Grade 340%

School 40% · District 40%

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

Grade 459%

School 59% · District 59%

▲ 4 pts above state median · ▲ 18 pts above county median

Grade 574%

School 74% · District 74%

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

Grade 654%

School 54% · District 54%

even with state median · ▲ 11 pts above county median

Grade 758%

School 58% · District 58%

▲ 1 pts above state median · ▲ 12 pts above county median

Grade 860%

School 60% · District 60%

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

Science

Grade 547%

School 47% · District 47%

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

Grade 810%

School 10% · District 10%

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

This schoolBrigantine 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-income30%Higher-income43%13 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income40%Higher-income71%31 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income50%Higher-income86%36 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income39%Higher-income69%30 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income41%Higher-income71%30 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income30%Higher-income64%34 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income10%Higher-income82%72 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income42%Higher-income91%49 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income33%Higher-income68%35 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income12%Higher-income67%55 pp gap