The top reported proficiency rate is 26% in English language arts. The lowest is 3% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Grove Street Elementary School
Grove Street Elementary School serves students from prekindergarten through fifth grade in Irvington, a densely populated, predominantly residential township in Essex County. The school is part of the Irvington Public School District, one of New Jersey’s former Abbott districts, now called SDA districts, meaning the state covers the cost of school building and renovation projects. The school is embedded in a neighborhood setting, typical of the district’s approach of placing schools within residential areas rather than on isolated campuses.
The student body is majority Black, with a substantial Latino population, according to demographic data. A large share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. The school also has a pre-K program, which aligns with the district’s recent expansion of early childhood education, adding new pre-K classrooms in a recent budget cycle.
State test results for math, English language arts, and science show that proficiency rates are modest across all tested grades. In math, the share of students reaching proficiency was in the low twenties for third and fourth graders and dropped to around one in seven for fifth graders. In English language arts, the pattern was somewhat different: about one in six third graders met the bar, rising to roughly one in four fourth graders and nearly one in three fifth graders. Science, which is tested in fifth grade, had a very small share of students reaching proficiency. When compared with other districts in Essex County, Grove Street Elementary sits in the bottom quartile for overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades. A parent wanting to understand the school’s academic standing relative to its neighbors can see that performance is weaker than most other elementary schools in the county.
Because the school serves only elementary grades, there is no graduation rate to report. Civil rights data was not available. The district, meanwhile, has taken steps that may be relevant to families. It has passed budgets with no increase to the local tax levy for multiple consecutive years, meaning the tax bill from the school portion has not risen. The district also voted in a recent year to request a state audit of its special education services, an unusual move that signals an effort to address challenges in that area, including out-of-district placements and staffing. A parent with a child who may need special education support may want to ask the school directly about how those services are currently delivered and what improvements are anticipated.
Irvington itself is a small-township, high-density community with very little vacant land, so growth occurs through redevelopment and infill. The central business district around the Irvington Bus Terminal, a major NJ Transit hub, was designated a transit village in a recent year, which qualifies it for revitalization incentives. The township’s Urban Enterprise Zone offers a reduced sales tax rate to encourage investment. Housing values and rents in the area are moderate relative to New Jersey as a whole. The school does not offer any special program designations such as magnet or charter status, and no course access or staffing data was available.
For a family considering Grove Street Elementary, the picture is straightforward. This is a neighborhood elementary school in a dense, built-out, transit-connected suburb serving a predominantly Black and Latino student body, with a high rate of economic disadvantage. State test results place it below most other districts in the county, a fact parents will want to weigh when evaluating academic support. The district has held property taxes steady and is seeking to improve special education services, which may matter to families with children who have individualized education plans. There is no additional information on programs, staffing, or chronic absenteeism, so those are areas a parent would need to explore by contacting the school directly.
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