Franklin Elementary School, Kearny NJ

Original Research by School Decision on Franklin Elementary School

Franklin Elementary School serves students from pre‑kindergarten through sixth grade in the town of Kearny, a mixed‑use community in western Hudson County with a dense residential grid and a long industrial history. The school is one of seven in the Kearny district, distributed across the town’s three sections rather than clustered on a single campus, which puts Franklin within walking distance of the neighborhoods it draws from. The town’s main commercial spine, Kearny Avenue, and the nearby Carnegie library and town hall anchor civic life, while river borders on two sides limit foot‑traffic connections to neighboring towns.

On state assessments administered in grades three through six, Franklin’s proficiency rates in math across those grades fall below the midpoint relative to other elementary schools in Hudson County districts. In English language arts the results are somewhat higher, with a notable share of students meeting proficiency in fourth and sixth grades, though overall the school’s combined academic index places it toward the lower end of the countywide comparison set. Science testing in fifth grade also shows a modest share of students reaching the state’s proficiency level. Because state testing begins in third grade, the school’s large pre‑kindergarten and kindergarten population is not reflected in these measures. A parent may want to discuss with the school how it supports students who are performing below grade‑level expectations, particularly in math.

Franklin’s enrollment is substantial for an elementary school serving grades PK‑6, with classes distributed across every grade from pre‑K through sixth. A large majority of students come from low‑income households, as measured by free and reduced‑price meal eligibility, and the student body is predominantly Hispanic, with a sizable white minority and smaller shares of Asian and Black students. The district’s data on students with disabilities and English learners was not available in the records used here.

The town of Kearny itself gained population modestly between the 2010 and 2020 censuses, then saw a small decline according to the 2023 estimate. Its housing market is expensive compared with national averages, with home values and rents that have risen over the past year. The most visible economic development is at Kearny Point, a former industrial waterfront now being redeveloped as a film and television production hub, which the town has actively promoted. The district did not appear to have recent major changes in curriculum, facilities, or policy according to publicly available information.

Franklin Elementary offers a regular public school program within a traditional grade structure. It does not serve high school grades, so there is no graduation rate to report, and the school’s special‑population data, course access, and staffing ratios were not included in the available records. For a family considering this school, the central takeaway is that its academic results on state tests are lower than many of its Hudson County peers, particularly in mathematics, and that the student body is economically diverse with a strong Hispanic majority. The school sits in a town with a walkable commercial core, a growing film‑industry presence, and a housing market that is costly relative to the nation.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 333%

School 33% · District 40% · ▼ 6 pts below district

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

Grade 422%

School 22% · District 27% · ▼ 5 pts below district

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

Grade 526%

School 26% · District 26% · ▼ 1 pts below district

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

Grade 619%

School 19% · District 27% · ▼ 8 pts below district

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

English language arts

Grade 332%

School 32% · District 36% · ▼ 4 pts below district

▼ 13 pts below state median · ▼ 5 pts below county median

Grade 444%

School 44% · District 38% · ▲ 6 pts above district

▼ 12 pts below state median · ▼ 5 pts below county median

Grade 538%

School 38% · District 39% · ▼ 1 pts below district

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

Grade 648%

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

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

Science

Grade 524%

School 24% · District 23% · ▲ 1 pts above district

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

This schoolKearny, 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-income25%Higher-income52%27 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income41%Higher-income52%11 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income33%Higher-income50%17 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income47%Higher-income48%1 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income28%Higher-income46%18 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income22%Higher-income24%2 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income21%Higher-income37%16 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income21%Higher-income13%8 pp gap