The top reported proficiency rate is 53% in Math. The lowest is 26% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Charles E. Trefurt School
Charles E. Trefurt School is an elementary school serving prekindergarten through fifth grade in the Heights neighborhood of Jersey City, part of the Jersey City Public Schools district. It is a regular public school, not a charter or magnet. The school sits on Franklin Street in a dense urban setting, a short walk from the commercial corridors of Central Avenue. For a parent considering this school, what matters most is how its academic performance, student composition, and setting align with what you want for your child in the early grades.
The student body is predominantly Hispanic, with a substantial share of Asian and a smaller share of White and Black students, reflecting the broad diversity that characterizes Jersey City as a whole. More than half of the students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating a school serving a largely low-income community. The enrollment is large for an elementary school, with a full prekindergarten program and roughly similar class sizes from kindergarten through fifth grade. The school does not serve grades beyond fifth, so there is no high school graduation rate or secondary-level course data to consider; the academic picture is entirely about the elementary years.
On state assessments, Trefurt’s results place it above the midpoint among elementary schools in Hudson County when looking at overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades. That is a solid showing for a school with a high-poverty population. In math, proficiency in third and fourth grade was around the midpoint, with a dip in fifth grade. In English language arts, proficiency hovered around half of students meeting the bar in third and fourth grade, then dropped somewhat in fifth grade. The most noticeable soft spot is fifth-grade science, where roughly a quarter of students reached proficiency. A parent may want to ask the school how it supports science learning in the intermediate years, especially since state science testing happens only in fifth grade.
The district has launched a new initiative called “Mission Forward” for the 2025-26 school year, focused on improving test scores, graduation readiness, student behavior, and social media awareness. While Trefurt is an elementary school and not directly affected by graduation measures, the broader push for academic improvement and behavioral expectations could influence the school climate. The district operates many schools and serves a diverse, economically disadvantaged student body, so resources are substantial but spread across many needs.
Jersey City itself is a dense, rapidly growing urban environment. The housing market is expensive, with home values and rents well above national averages, reflecting the city’s desirability and its function as a bedroom community and financial hub for Manhattan. The Heights neighborhood where Trefurt is located has a different texture from the waterfront high-rises; it is an older residential area with row houses and walk-up apartments, a strong sense of community, and its own commercial strips. The school is accessible by public transit, and the city’s PATH trains, buses, and ferries connect to New York.
For a family looking at Trefurt, the school offers a solid academic baseline in a diverse, urban setting within a large district that is actively working on improvement. The proficiency numbers are not among the highest in the county, but they are respectable given the student demographics. The school does not have data on chronic absenteeism, special education services, or English learner support available in this profile, so if your child has specific needs in those areas, you would want to confirm directly with the school what supports are in place. The lack of testing in prekindergarten through second grade means the school’s early literacy and numeracy foundation is not directly measured by state data, though the kindergarten through second grade enrollment is substantial and those years are often where the most intensive early intervention happens.
Trefurt fits a family that values a neighborhood school with a diverse student body, wants a prekindergarten program, and is comfortable with a school where proficiency is in the middle range rather than at the top. The Heights setting offers a walkable, established urban neighborhood with lower rents and home prices than the downtown waterfront, though still expensive by national standards. If top-tier test scores or dedicated magnet programs are your priority, other district schools may be a better match. For a solid, regular elementary school in a growing, changing city, Trefurt is a reasonable option worth visiting.
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