Herma S. Simmons Elementary School, Clayton NJ

Original Research by School Decision on Herma S. Simmons Elementary School

Herma S. Simmons Elementary School serves students from pre-kindergarten through fifth grade in Clayton, a small borough in Gloucester County, New Jersey. The school is a regular public school within the Clayton Public School District and is the only elementary school in the district.

Clayton itself is a borough with a mix of residential neighborhoods and local commercial uses, historically rooted in glass manufacturing. Today, about a third of the borough’s land is parkland, including portions of the Glassboro Wildlife Management Area, giving it a semi-rural texture. NJ Transit bus service connects the borough to surrounding areas, and its built environment is primarily single-family homes. The public schools are located on a combined campus area within the borough, and voters have approved referendums for school renovation and expansion projects in recent years, signaling a community that invests in its school facilities.

The student body at Herma S. Simmons is diverse. White students make up nearly half of the enrollment, followed by Black students, Hispanic students, and students who identify as two or more races. Asian students form a very small share of the population. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating that a notable portion of families face economic challenges. This is a characteristic of the school’s peer environment, not a judgment.

Academically, the school’s performance on New Jersey Student Learning Assessments shows a clear pattern of improvement as students move through the grades. In math, the share of students meeting proficiency standards rises with each grade level, as does the share in English language arts. In ELA, the jump is particularly steep between third and fourth grade, and by fifth grade a majority of students test at the proficient level. In science, which is tested only at fifth grade, a little more than a third of students scored at the proficient level. When compared across all districts in Gloucester County on an overall proficiency index, Herma S. Simmons Elementary falls in the bottom quartile. This means that on aggregate, the school’s tested performance is lower than most of its neighbors in the county. For a parent considering the school, this is the main area to look into further.

The school does not serve grades beyond fifth, so there is no graduation rate to report here. No data was available on chronic absenteeism, special education rates, or English learner populations, so those aspects of student support could not be assessed from the information provided. The school’s disciplinary data and course access details were also absent. This is a gap a parent may want to address by contacting the school directly.

Housing in the area is relatively affordable compared to the state as a whole, though the Clayton zip code’s home values have risen modestly in recent years. The median listing price in Gloucester County sits below the state median, and a combination of mortgage rates and rents suggests a tight but not extreme cost picture for local families.

For a family looking at Herma S. Simmons, the picture is of a mid-size elementary school in a small-town setting where students show academic growth across grade levels, but where overall achievement lags the county average. The school serves a population with significant economic diversity, and the community has demonstrated a willingness to fund school improvements. A parent would want to learn more about student support services and how the school addresses the gaps reflected in the test scores.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 318%

School 18% · District 18%

▼ 32 pts below state median · ▼ 34 pts below county median

Grade 426%

School 26% · District 26%

▼ 20 pts below state median · ▼ 21 pts below county median

Grade 531%

School 31% · District 31%

▼ 12 pts below state median · ▼ 12 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 312%

School 12% · District 12%

▼ 33 pts below state median · ▼ 33 pts below county median

Grade 443%

School 43% · District 43%

▼ 12 pts below state median · ▼ 10 pts below county median

Grade 554%

School 54% · District 54%

even with state median · ▲ 1 pts above county median

Science

Grade 536%

School 36% · District 36%

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

This schoolClayton 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-income12%Higher-income13%1 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income34%Higher-income57%23 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income45%Higher-income61%15 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income14%Higher-income25%11 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income15%Higher-income42%27 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income18%Higher-income41%23 pp gap