Lavallette Elementary School, Lavallette NJ

Original Research by School Decision on Lavallette Elementary School

Lavallette Elementary School, a regular public school serving preschool through eighth grade, sits in a small coastal borough on the Jersey Shore. The school accounts for the entire Lavallette Borough School District. High school students from Lavallette attend Point Pleasant Beach High School in a neighboring town, so this elementary and middle school is the only public school building in the borough itself.

The school is small, which is typical for a barrier-island community. Its student body is predominantly white, with smaller shares of students who are Hispanic, Asian, and Black. Just over one in eight students qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, a rate that is low relative to many other districts in the region.

State test results from the most recent year show a pattern that varies notably by grade level and subject, a pattern that parents may want to explore with the school. In the lower elementary grades, performance in English language arts and math is strong, with a large majority of third graders meeting proficiency in reading and a solid majority in math. By fourth grade, reading proficiency drops substantially. In fifth grade, the results are the weakest in the building, with proficiency rates in both reading and math falling considerably below the state midpoint; fifth-grade science results are similarly low. The middle grades see a recovery: seventh graders post robust results in both subjects, and eighth grade reading, though still moderate, is a clear improvement over the fifth-grade year. Eighth grade math results were suppressed in the data, which often happens with very small testing cohorts. Overall, the school’s composite proficiency index sits above the midpoint relative to other Ocean County districts, a position driven by the higher-performing grade levels and not by a uniform advantage across all years. The small enrollment means one cohort’s results can swing the building-wide picture considerably, and a parent may reasonably ask the principal how the school addresses the dip in the middle elementary years.

Lavallette itself is a peninsula community with a year-round population that has declined somewhat over recent decades, though it remains a summer destination with a seasonal surge. It is built out, with no large tracts for new construction, and the housing stock is expensive for the region. The typical home value in the zip code is well above the national average, and the cost of entry for a buyer is steep. The compact geography means the school is integrated into the residential fabric rather than isolated on a large campus.

A publicly reported change has reshaped enrollment in recent years: Lavallette became a receiving district for students from nearby Seaside Park in grades K through 6. That arrangement, which was affirmed by the state’s Appellate Division, means some children in the school come from a neighboring community. For a family considering this school, the receiving relationship is worth understanding because it affects class composition and the overall feel of the building.

The school offers no high school grades, so there is no graduation rate, no analysis of college-going, and no data on advanced placement or dual-enrollment course access. Those are simply not applicable. The school also does not report chronic absenteeism or discipline data in the sources used here, so those dimensions cannot be evaluated.

For a family looking for a very small K-8 setting in an affluent shore community where high school will be elsewhere, Lavallette Elementary offers a compact, neighborhood experience. The uneven test results across grade levels mean a parent who values consistent strong performance may want to ask about curriculum alignment and support in the fourth through sixth grades. The low poverty rate and high housing costs produce a relatively homogenous socioeconomic environment. The Seaside Park open-enrollment arrangement adds a layer of variety that a parent may see as a benefit or simply as a fact to factor in.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 364%

School 64% · District 64%

▲ 14 pts above state median · ▲ 22 pts above county median

Grade 460%

School 60% · District 60%

▲ 14 pts above state median · ▲ 19 pts above county median

Grade 523%

School 23% · District 23%

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

Grade 618%

School 18% · District 18%

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

Grade 767%

School 67% · District 67%

▲ 32 pts above state median · ▲ 31 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 382%

School 82% · District 82%

▲ 37 pts above state median · ▲ 44 pts above county median

Grade 447%

School 47% · District 47%

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

Grade 58%

School 8% · District 8%

▼ 46 pts below state median · ▼ 39 pts below county median

Grade 646%

School 46% · District 46%

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

Grade 767%

School 67% · District 67%

▲ 10 pts above state median · ▲ 18 pts above county median

Grade 857%

School 57% · District 57%

▼ 1 pts below state median · ▲ 8 pts above county median

Science

Grade 523%

School 23% · District 23%

▼ 4 pts below state median · even with county median

Grade 821%

School 21% · District 21%

▲ 8 pts above state median · ▲ 8 pts above county median

This schoolLavallette Borough 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.