Elizabeth Avenue School, Somerset NJ

Original Research by School Decision on Elizabeth Avenue School

Elizabeth Avenue School is a regular public elementary school in Somerset, New Jersey, serving pre-kindergarten through fifth grade as part of the Franklin Township Public School District. It sits within a community that is an unincorporated census-designated place in Franklin Township, Somerset County, described as a suburban area with residential neighborhoods, commercial corridors along roads like Hamilton Street and Franklin Boulevard, and office parks rather than a traditional downtown. The county ranks among the highest in the nation for median household income, and the area carries an affluent suburban character. Housing values in the immediate zip code are above the national typical level, and rents also track above the national benchmark, making this a relatively expensive market for families. Major employers nearby include SHI International, Catalent, PIM Brands, and Meda Pharmaceuticals, and the civic landscape includes Marconi Park, which occupies the site of an early radio transmitter station.

The school itself is a mid-sized elementary for its grade band. The student body is diverse. The largest group is Hispanic, followed by Black or African American, Asian, and White students, with smaller shares of students identifying as two or more races and American Indian or Alaska Native. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating that a meaningful portion of families have lower household incomes even within a generally affluent county context. Data on students with disabilities and English learners was not available here, a gap a parent may want to discuss directly with the school.

State testing results from the New Jersey Student Learning Assessments show a mixed picture. In English language arts, proficiency rates rise with each grade level, from below half of third graders to exactly half of fifth graders. In math, proficiency rates decline slightly across grades, with just under half of third graders scoring proficient or above and a little over two-fifths of fifth graders doing the same. Science results for fifth graders are notably softer, with roughly a quarter of students reaching the proficient level. When combined into an overall proficiency index and compared against all other schools in Somerset County districts, Elizabeth Avenue School lands below the midpoint of the cohort. This is a measured position that a parent should weigh against the specific grade-level variation.

Because this is a pre-kindergarten through fifth grade school, there are no high school graduation rate data or postsecondary outcomes to consider. Similarly, no chronic absenteeism data, discipline records, or staffing ratios were present in the materials available. The district brief turned up little in the way of recent budget votes, curricular changes, or referenda that would directly affect a parent’s decision. The school carries no charter, magnet, or Title I designations in the data, though it is a regular public school.

For a family considering Elizabeth Avenue School, the core question is fit. The school sits in a high-cost, suburban area with a strong employment base, and its student demographic profile is more economically mixed than the county’s overall affluence might suggest. The academic results show a school that is not among the top performers in its county but one where a significant share of students are meeting state benchmarks in reading and math, with more ground to cover in science. A family looking for an elementary school in this part of Somerset County will want to visit, ask about supports for the students who are not yet at proficiency, and understand how the school addresses its pockets of lower performance.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 347%

School 47% · District 44% · ▲ 4 pts above district

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

Grade 445%

School 45% · District 45% · ▲ 1 pts above district

even with state median · ▼ 19 pts below county median

Grade 543%

School 43% · District 45% · ▼ 2 pts below district

even with state median · ▼ 16 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 344%

School 44% · District 41% · ▲ 4 pts above district

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

Grade 448%

School 48% · District 47% · ▲ 1 pts above district

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

Grade 550%

School 50% · District 51% · ▼ 1 pts below district

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

Science

Grade 527%

School 27% · District 23% · ▲ 4 pts above district

even with state median · ▼ 15 pts below county median

This schoolFranklin Township 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-income29%Higher-income60%31 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income37%Higher-income60%23 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income42%Higher-income60%18 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income29%Higher-income67%37 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income33%Higher-income58%24 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income36%Higher-income51%15 pp gap