Winston S. Churchill School, Fairfield NJ

Original Research by School Decision on Winston S. Churchill School

Winston S. Churchill School is a regular public school serving grades 3 through 6 in Fairfield, a low-density suburban township in northwestern Essex County. The school sits within the Fairfield Public School District and is one of the district’s elementary-level buildings. Fairfield is bisected by Interstate 80 and Route 46, a car-dependent community with commercial corridors, dispersed residential neighborhoods, and no traditional downtown. The township’s population has grown steadily and housing values are well above national norms, reflecting an affluent, educated population.

Academically, Churchill School records a strong overall performance. The school’s proficiency across tested subjects and grades places it in the top tier of districts within Essex County. English language arts is a clear strength. In every grade tested, a large majority of students meet state proficiency standards, and the share rises through the grade levels, with the sixth-grade cohort performing especially well. Math results are more uneven. While third graders post solid scores, proficiency drops notably in grades 4 through 6, where roughly half of students meet the bar. This pattern is worth a conversation with the school for any parent whose child is entering those upper grades. Science, assessed only in grade 5, shows a lower share of students reaching proficiency, a soft spot that may reflect the challenge of elementary science instruction or the particular cohort. A parent may want to ask about the school’s science curriculum and support.

The student body is predominantly white, with a sizable Hispanic minority and a smaller Asian enrollment. The share of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch is very low, indicating a predominantly middle- to upper-income population. Data on special education identification and English learner status were not available, so a family with a child in either of those categories would want to contact the school directly to understand the services available. The school does not serve high school grades, so there is no graduation rate, nor does it have a chronic absenteeism metric reported. No information on discipline, staffing ratios, or course access was provided, so the full picture of student support and school climate is incomplete from these data alone.

The school sits in a community where the housing market is expensive, with limited inventory and a low supply of new listings, consistent with a desirable suburb. The Fairfield Public School District appears to have undergone no major recent changes that were publicly reported. The school building itself is a standard elementary facility, and the grades served mean students move on to a middle school after sixth grade.

For families, Churchill School offers a strong academic foundation, particularly in reading and writing, in an affluent, car-dependent suburban setting. The math and science results are areas of legitimate inquiry, but the overall proficiency profile is among the better ones in Essex County. The school fits a family looking for a regular public elementary program with solid outcomes, in a community of high property values and low density, where the school is a single upper-elementary building rather than a K-5 or K-8 configuration.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 370%

School 70% · District 70%

▲ 20 pts above state median · ▲ 32 pts above county median

Grade 447%

School 47% · District 47%

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

Grade 559%

School 59% · District 59%

▲ 16 pts above state median · ▲ 28 pts above county median

Grade 652%

School 52% · District 52%

▲ 18 pts above state median · ▲ 28 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 364%

School 64% · District 64%

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

Grade 469%

School 69% · District 69%

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

Grade 579%

School 79% · District 79%

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

Grade 683%

School 83% · District 83%

▲ 29 pts above state median · ▲ 33 pts above county median

Science

Grade 539%

School 39% · District 39%

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

This schoolFairfield 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.