Folsom Elementary School, Folsom NJ

Original Research by School Decision on Folsom Elementary School

Folsom Elementary School is the only public school in the Folsom Borough School District, serving children from pre-kindergarten through eighth grade in a single building. The school sits within a small, low-density borough that is entirely inside the New Jersey Pinelands National Reserve, a landscape of forests, wetlands, and protected natural areas that shapes both the community and the school's setting. Folsom has no traditional downtown; the municipal building and the school are located along state highways, and the borough's population has been declining or flat over the past two decades. For a family considering this area, the context is a quiet, rural Pinelands community with limited commercial development and a car-dependent environment.

The school itself enrolls a student body that is predominantly White, with a modest share of Hispanic students and very small numbers of Black and Asian students. About a quarter of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a figure that falls below many districts in the county, indicating a relatively low concentration of economic disadvantage. The school has a substantial enrollment for a single-building elementary-middle school, spread fairly evenly across grades. No data on students with disabilities or English learners was available, so a parent may want to ask the school directly about those supports.

Academically, Folsom Elementary posts an overall proficiency index that sits above the midpoint among Atlantic County districts, a positive marker for the school's general performance level. But the picture varies noticeably by grade and subject when you look closer. In English language arts, proficiency rates range from roughly a third of students meeting the bar in third grade to more than half in fourth, fifth, and sixth grades, then drop somewhat in seventh before climbing back in eighth. In math, the pattern is more of a decline: proficiency rates are in the mid- to upper-range in fourth and fifth grades, then fall to lower levels in sixth and seventh, and then a very thin share of eighth graders are proficient. Science results are also low in both tested grades, fifth and eighth. The eighth-grade math and science numbers are soft enough that a parent would be wise to ask the school about how it supports students as they approach the transition to high school.

Because Folsom Elementary ends at eighth grade, families must plan for high school elsewhere. The district sends its ninth-through-twelfth-grade students to Hammonton High School in neighboring Hammonton under a sending-receiving arrangement, and students may also attend the Atlantic County Institute of Technology or Charter-Tech High School for the Performing Arts. This means that the elementary school experience is self-contained and small, but the high school years involve a commute to a different town.

The borough's housing market reflects its Pinelands setting and modest growth prospects. Typical home values in Folsom are below the statewide average, and the county housing market shows a steady number of listings with prices that are affordable relative to much of New Jersey. The Pinelands protections likely keep large-scale development in check, so the community is likely to remain low-density and environmentally oriented. No recent district-level changes, such as referendums, curriculum shifts, or tax measures, were found in publicly available sources, so the school's programming and operations appear stable.

For a family, Folsom Elementary offers a small, single-school district in a quiet rural borough with proficiency that is generally in line with other Atlantic County districts, though with clear dips in the upper middle school grades that deserve attention. The lack of an on-site high school and the highway-oriented town character are central features of the experience. The school fits a family seeking a modest-sized, predominantly White, lower-poverty elementary and middle school in a protected natural setting, with the understanding that the high school years will happen elsewhere.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 338%

School 38% · District 38%

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

Grade 452%

School 52% · District 52%

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

Grade 542%

School 42% · District 42%

▼ 1 pts below state median · ▲ 16 pts above county median

Grade 641%

School 41% · District 41%

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

Grade 735%

School 35% · District 35%

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

Grade 812%

School 12% · District 12%

▼ 5 pts below state median · even with county median

English language arts

Grade 330%

School 30% · District 30%

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

Grade 457%

School 57% · District 57%

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

Grade 551%

School 51% · District 51%

▼ 3 pts below state median · ▲ 14 pts above county median

Grade 655%

School 55% · District 55%

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

Grade 740%

School 40% · District 40%

▼ 18 pts below state median · ▼ 7 pts below county median

Grade 846%

School 46% · District 46%

▼ 12 pts below state median · ▼ 4 pts below county median

Science

Grade 524%

School 24% · District 24%

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

Grade 813%

School 13% · District 13%

even with state median · ▲ 4 pts above county median

This schoolFolsom Borough 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-income18%Higher-income39%22 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income47%Higher-income63%16 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income21%Higher-income47%26 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income36%Higher-income50%14 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income41%Higher-income35%6 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income35%Higher-income63%28 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income29%Higher-income38%10 pp gap