Lawrence Brook Elementary School, East Brunswick NJ

Original Research by School Decision on Lawrence Brook Elementary School

Lawrence Brook Elementary School serves a pre-K through fourth-grade population in the East Brunswick Township School District, a suburban community in Middlesex County. The school is a regular public school and sits within a township that was transformed after World War II from a farming community into a commuter bedroom suburb, anchored by the extension of the New Jersey Turnpike to Exit 9. East Brunswick does not have a traditional downtown; civic facilities, parks, and schools are spread across a car-dependent suburban layout, with Route 18 running as the primary commercial corridor. The township has seen steady decades-long growth, with its census population reaching its highest decennial count ever in 2020. Housing in the area carries a substantial price tag, above state benchmarks, and the local county market shows an active and competitive environment.

The school itself enrolls roughly 350 to 375 students across its four elementary grades plus a small pre-K program. The student body is diverse: about a third of students are white, about a quarter are Asian, nearly a quarter are Hispanic, and smaller shares are Black and multiracial. A relatively modest share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, about one in five.

State testing results from the most recent year available show overall proficiency that places the school in the top quarter among schools across Middlesex County. This is a notably strong position. In math, a large majority of third graders met the state's proficiency bar, as did a clear majority of fourth graders. English language arts results were more varied: a majority of third graders scored proficient, and the fourth-grade cohort performed at a level similar to the school's strongest math results. Readers should weigh that third-grade ELA proficiency was a softer point, though still above many peers. Science results, available from an earlier testing cycle, showed a smaller share of fifth graders reaching proficiency; because Lawrence Brook ends at fourth grade, those results come from a group that had already moved on to another school, so they are a less direct read of the current program.

Because the school serves only through fourth grade, there is no graduation rate to report. The district context for families is stable; a search for recent district-level changes turned up little of lasting impact. The district itself is a comprehensive public system that continues after elementary school at the township's middle and high schools, but those are beyond this profile.

For a parent considering this school, the picture is of a consistently high-performing elementary option in an established, growing suburb. The academic results in math and, in fourth grade, reading are a genuine strength. The third-grade reading results, while still above the county median, are a detail a parent may want to discuss with the school. The student composition reflects the surrounding community's diversity, and the school is not particularly high-poverty. The housing market is expensive, which is part of the context for any family moving into the attendance zone.

See more original research from School Decision →

Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 373%

School 73% · District 69% · ▲ 4 pts above district

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

Grade 462%

School 62% · District 69% · ▼ 7 pts below district

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

English language arts

Grade 356%

School 56% · District 60% · ▼ 4 pts below district

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

Grade 473%

School 73% · District 71% · ▲ 2 pts above district

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

Science

Grade 531%

School 31% · District 41% · ▼ 9 pts below district

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

This schoolEast Brunswick Township 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-income33%Higher-income65%31 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income44%Higher-income82%38 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income48%Higher-income64%16 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income50%Higher-income81%31 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income56%Higher-income64%8 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income19%Higher-income48%30 pp gap