Chessie Dentley Roberts Academy School No. 30, Elizabeth NJ

Original Research by School Decision on Chessie Dentley Roberts Academy School No. 30

Chessie Dentley Roberts Academy School No. 30 is a regular public school in Elizabeth, New Jersey, serving students from prekindergarten through eighth grade. It sits within the Elizabeth Public Schools district, the city's sole school system. The school is a neighborhood institution in a densely urban setting, drawing its students from the surrounding residential blocks of a city that blends historic downtown streets, industrial port infrastructure, and major retail destinations like The Mills at Jersey Gardens. Elizabeth itself has seen notable population growth in recent decades and is among the most diverse cities in the state, a reflection of the school's own student body: the large majority of students come from Hispanic backgrounds, with smaller shares identifying as Black and White, and a very small number as Asian or Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, marking this as a school serving a high-poverty community.

On state assessments, the school's performance varies noticeably by subject and grade level. In English language arts, results improve as students move through the grades. Upper elementary and middle school students reach proficiency at rates that are higher than the school's overall average, particularly in seventh and eighth grade. Math scores tell a different story: across all tested grades, proficiency rates are lower than in ELA, and they decline in the middle grades, with the lowest rates in seventh grade. Science results, available only for fifth and eighth graders, are very low, a point a parent may want to look into further with the school to understand how science instruction and curriculum are structured. The school's composite proficiency index across all tested subjects and grades places it below the midpoint among the districts in Union County. The district did not have any publicly reported multi-year trend data or recent changes, so it is not possible to assess whether these results are improving, stable, or declining over time.

Because the school ends at eighth grade, there is no graduation rate to consider. The data also did not include information about chronic absenteeism, discipline, course access, or staffing ratios, so a comprehensive picture of the school environment is incomplete. Programs such as advanced coursework, enrichment, or career pathways were not reported, though as a pre-K through eight school, those typically fall at the high school level.

For a family considering this school, the key question is fit. The student body is large for an elementary and middle school, and the surrounding community is an active, transit-connected city with a growing economy and a strong industrial and logistics base. Housing in the zip code around the school is moderately priced by county standards, and the market shows steady demand. The school itself delivers stronger results in reading than in math and science, and its performance is below that of many other Union County districts. A parent whose child struggles in math or science may want to ask about targeted supports. The rising ELA scores through the middle grades suggest that many students do develop strong literacy skills by the time they leave for high school. The absence of reported special education and English learner counts means a family with a child receiving those services would need to contact the school directly for details. This is a school that serves a high-need population in a city that continues to grow and invest, and its academic profile reflects both the challenges and the strengths typical of urban public schools in similar settings.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 339%

School 39% · District 37% · ▲ 2 pts above district

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

Grade 441%

School 41% · District 32% · ▲ 9 pts above district

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

Grade 537%

School 37% · District 33% · ▲ 4 pts above district

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

Grade 633%

School 33% · District 26% · ▲ 6 pts above district

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

Grade 725%

School 25% · District 21% · ▲ 4 pts above district

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

English language arts

Grade 344%

School 44% · District 30% · ▲ 14 pts above district

▼ 2 pts below state median · ▲ 2 pts above county median

Grade 450%

School 50% · District 37% · ▲ 14 pts above district

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

Grade 537%

School 37% · District 40% · ▼ 4 pts below district

▼ 17 pts below state median · ▼ 13 pts below county median

Grade 660%

School 60% · District 53% · ▲ 7 pts above district

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

Grade 766%

School 66% · District 56% · ▲ 10 pts above district

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

Grade 873%

School 73% · District 55% · ▲ 18 pts above district

▲ 15 pts above state median · ▲ 14 pts above county median

Science

Grade 512%

School 12% · District 15% · ▼ 4 pts below district

▼ 16 pts below state median · ▼ 8 pts below county median

Grade 85%

School 5% · District 9% · ▼ 4 pts below district

▼ 8 pts below state median · ▼ 3 pts below county median

This schoolElizabeth Public Schools, 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 5Lower-income31%Higher-income60%29 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income58%Higher-income67%9 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income75%Higher-income64%11 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 5Lower-income33%Higher-income50%17 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income30%Higher-income42%12 pp gap