Ella G Clarke Elementary School, Lakewood NJ

Original Research by School Decision on Ella G Clarke Elementary School

Ella G Clarke Elementary School is a regular public school in Lakewood, New Jersey, serving grades three through six. It is part of the Lakewood Township School District. The school sits in a township that has become one of the fastest-growing municipalities in the state, driven largely by high birth rates and in-migration within the Orthodox Jewish community and a growing Latino population. Lakewood is densely populated, with a mix of residential neighborhoods, commercial corridors, and major religious and educational institutions. The student body at Clarke reflects the area’s diversity, though its composition stands out: the vast majority of students are Hispanic, and a very high share of students come from low-income households, according to free and reduced-price lunch data. Information on students with disabilities and English learners was not available in the data.

On state assessments administered through New Jersey’s standardized testing program, Clarke’s results show a pattern of relatively low proficiency compared to state averages, with some variation across subjects and grade levels. In mathematics, proficiency rates across grades three through six were modest, with fewer than two in five students meeting the proficient or above threshold in any given grade. English language arts scores were more uneven. In grade three and grade four, roughly a quarter of students scored proficient or above. Grade five saw a somewhat higher share, and grade six recorded the strongest result in the school, with a majority of students reaching proficiency. Science, tested only in grade five, showed a very small percentage of students performing at the proficient level. When the school’s overall proficiency across all tested subjects and grades is compared to other districts within Ocean County, it falls in the bottom quarter of the set.

The school does not serve high school grades, so no graduation rate applies.

A parent looking at Clarke today should be aware that the school itself is undergoing a fundamental change. The Lakewood Township School District adopted a new strategic plan for 2025-2028, driven by a sustained decline in district enrollment over recent years. As part of that plan, several schools are being closed as of June 30, 2025, and Ella G Clarke Elementary School is among them. The building and land are being sold. All remaining schools in the district are being reconfigured for the 2025-2026 school year, with new grade bands assigned to each site. Clarke’s students will attend other district schools under the new configuration. This is a lasting structural shift, not a temporary adjustment.

For a family considering this school for the current or upcoming year, the immediate takeaway is that the school will not continue operating in its current form past the end of the 2024-2025 school year. The district’s strategic plan outlines priorities for academic achievement and student support going forward, but the specific pathways for students who would have attended Clarke are still being shaped by the reconfiguration. The academic data available for the most recent testing year shows that the school’s performance, particularly in math and science, is weaker than many of its peers in Ocean County, while the stronger ELA result in grade six suggests some grade-level variation that a parent may wish to discuss directly with the school or district. Given the upcoming closure, the most pressing question for any family is where their child will be assigned and what that receiving school’s academic profile looks like.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 337%

School 37% · District 28% · ▲ 9 pts above district

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

Grade 430%

School 30% · District 27% · ▲ 4 pts above district

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

Grade 524%

School 24% · District 18% · ▲ 5 pts above district

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

Grade 625%

School 25% · District 22% · ▲ 3 pts above district

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

English language arts

Grade 330%

School 30% · District 23% · ▲ 8 pts above district

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

Grade 427%

School 27% · District 33% · ▼ 6 pts below district

▼ 29 pts below state median · ▼ 19 pts below county median

Grade 539%

School 39% · District 43% · ▼ 4 pts below district

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

Grade 659%

School 59% · District 45% · ▲ 15 pts above district

▲ 5 pts above state median · ▲ 13 pts above county median

Science

Grade 510%

School 10% · District 8% · ▲ 2 pts above district

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

This schoolLakewood Township 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.