Joseph H. Brensinger School, Jersey City NJ

Original Research by School Decision on Joseph H. Brensinger School

Joseph H. Brensinger School is a regular public school serving prekindergarten through eighth grade in Jersey City. As part of the Jersey City Public Schools district, it sits in a dense, diversifying city that has been reshaped by waterfront redevelopment and a growing finance sector. Jersey City’s neighborhoods—Downtown, Journal Square, the Heights, among others—reflect the broad mix of residents and languages that makes the city one of the most ethnically diverse in the country. For a family considering this school, the setting is deeply urban: students live in a city with high-rise towers, repurposed industrial buildings, and a walkable core connected to Manhattan by PATH trains, buses, and ferries.

Brensinger’s enrollment is large for a PK-8 school. The student body is racially and ethnically mixed, with a White plurality, a substantial Hispanic population, a notable Black share, and a smaller but visible Asian group. Income data show that a large majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, meaning Brensinger serves a community with concentrated poverty. The school’s own data on students with disabilities and English learners was not included in available records, so a parent may want to ask the school directly about those populations.

State testing results from the 2024-25 school year give a mixed picture. In English language arts, performance is uneven across grades. On the strongest year, fourth graders showed proficiency near the halfway mark, while other grades ranged from roughly a third to just under half proficient. This is a modest outcome overall. In math, the pattern weakens noticeably. Proficiency rates decline steadily from grade to grade, reaching a low in eighth grade where only a small fraction of students scored at the proficient level. Science results are the weakest area, with a very small share of students reaching proficiency in both fifth and eighth grade. The school’s overall proficiency index, which combines all tested subjects and grades, places it in the bottom quartile compared to other districts in Hudson County. A parent concerned about academic rigor will want to investigate how the school supports struggling students, especially in the upper grades.

Because Brensinger stops at eighth grade, there is no graduation rate to report. Chronic absenteeism data was not available, and no information on discipline, course access, staffing, or attendance was provided. The school has no charter or magnet designation, and no program offerings were listed in the data.

The district, Jersey City Public Schools, has publicly reported a new initiative called “Mission Forward” for the 2025-26 school year, focusing on improving test scores, graduation readiness, student behavior, and social media awareness. This follows a broader district profile of serving a large, economically disadvantaged student population across many schools. For a family living in Jersey City, Brensinger is a neighborhood school with clear challenges on state assessments and a student body shaped by the city’s diversity and economic pressures. The school’s strengths lie in its role as a community anchor within a highly connected urban environment, but the test data suggests that families expecting strong academic foundations may want to explore what academic supports and enrichment are actually available inside the building.

See more original research from School Decision →

Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 339%

School 39% · District 46% · ▼ 7 pts below district

▼ 11 pts below state median · ▼ 2 pts below county median

Grade 432%

School 32% · District 38% · ▼ 5 pts below district

▼ 13 pts below state median · ▼ 6 pts below county median

Grade 525%

School 25% · District 36% · ▼ 10 pts below district

▼ 17 pts below state median · ▼ 9 pts below county median

Grade 620%

School 20% · District 28% · ▼ 7 pts below district

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

Grade 718%

School 18% · District 32% · ▼ 14 pts below district

▼ 17 pts below state median · ▼ 10 pts below county median

Grade 810%

School 10% · District 9% · ▲ 1 pts above district

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

English language arts

Grade 336%

School 36% · District 47% · ▼ 10 pts below district

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

Grade 452%

School 52% · District 49% · ▲ 3 pts above district

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

Grade 536%

School 36% · District 44% · ▼ 8 pts below district

▼ 18 pts below state median · ▼ 13 pts below county median

Grade 644%

School 44% · District 47% · ▼ 2 pts below district

▼ 10 pts below state median · ▼ 6 pts below county median

Grade 742%

School 42% · District 49% · ▼ 7 pts below district

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

Grade 850%

School 50% · District 45% · ▲ 4 pts above district

▼ 8 pts below state median · ▼ 6 pts below county median

Science

Grade 512%

School 12% · District 24% · ▼ 12 pts below district

▼ 15 pts below state median · ▼ 10 pts below county median

Grade 84%

School 4% · District 12% · ▼ 8 pts below district

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

This schoolJersey City Public Schools, 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-income36%Higher-income38%1 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income48%Higher-income67%19 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income33%Higher-income56%23 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income45%Higher-income41%4 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income50%Higher-income47%3 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income39%Higher-income39%0 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income31%Higher-income36%4 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income27%Higher-income19%7 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income21%Higher-income14%7 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income18%Higher-income15%3 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income10%Higher-income11%0 pp gap