Woodglen School, Califon NJ - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Woodglen School

Woodglen School is the sole middle-level school in the Lebanon Township School District, serving students from fifth through eighth grade in the small, historic borough of Califon, New Jersey. The school occupies a single building on Bunvale Road, tucked into a predominantly residential area that sits along the South Branch of the Raritan River. Califon itself is a very small Victorian-era enclave with a walkable downtown, a historic district listed on the National Register, and the Columbia Trail running through town. The borough has seen little population growth in recent years, and its character is one of preservation and stability rather than expansion. Housing values in the area are elevated relative to national benchmarks, and the community carries a distinctly small-town, rural feel.

The student body at Woodglen is small for a grade 5-8 school, and it is largely homogeneous. The enrolled population is predominantly white, with much smaller shares of Hispanic, Black, Asian, and multiracial students. A relatively low share of students qualify for free or reduced-price meals, indicating a higher-income family context. Data on students with disabilities and English learners were not available in the profile, so a parent may want to ask the school directly about those supports.

Academically, Woodglen presents a mixed picture that leans toward strength in literacy but shows soft spots in math and science. On the state’s NJSLA assessments, the school’s overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades places it in the bottom quartile when compared with other districts in Hunterdon County. That is a fact worth pausing on. However, the pattern varies by subject and grade. In English language arts, a majority of students met the proficiency benchmark in sixth, seventh, and eighth grades, with the eighth-grade performance particularly strong. In math, proficiency rates were more moderate for grades five through seven but dropped sharply for eighth grade, where fewer than one in four students scored at the proficient level. Science results at both fifth and eighth grades also showed a majority of students below the state’s proficiency standard. These results suggest that Woodglen’s literacy instruction is relatively effective, while mathematics and science are areas a parent may want to investigate further, especially for students transitioning into high school.

Because Woodglen serves only middle grades, there is no high school graduation rate or chronic absenteeism data to report. Students in grades 9-12 attend Voorhees High School in the North Hunterdon-Voorhees Regional High School District, a separate campus outside Califon. That means the middle school experience at Woodglen is a self-contained step before a regional high school that draws from a broader area.

The district itself, Lebanon Township School District, showed no major recent changes in publicly available information; the district brief found little in the way of lasting shifts in policy, leadership, or programming. For families considering the area, the school operates within a stable, low-turnover administrative context.

Woodglen School fits a family looking for a small, community-anchored middle school in a quiet, historic town with high housing costs. The academic strengths are real in English language arts, but the math and science results are below what many families might expect from a school in a higher-income area. A parent would be well served to visit, sit in on classes, and ask about how the school is working to lift math and science performance, and what supports are available for students who need extra help or who are ready for more challenge.

See more original research from School Decision →

Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 538%

School 38% · District 38%

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

Grade 645%

School 45% · District 45%

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

Grade 743%

School 43% · District 43%

▲ 8 pts above state median · ▼ 7 pts below county median

Grade 823%

School 23% · District 23%

▲ 6 pts above state median · even with county median

English language arts

Grade 545%

School 45% · District 45%

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

Grade 661%

School 61% · District 61%

▲ 7 pts above state median · even with county median

Grade 758%

School 58% · District 58%

even with state median · ▼ 14 pts below county median

Grade 871%

School 71% · District 71%

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

Science

Grade 537%

School 37% · District 37%

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

Grade 833%

School 33% · District 33%

▲ 20 pts above state median · ▲ 3 pts above county median

This schoolLebanon 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.

Proficiency by household income

English language arts

Grade 7Lower-income27%Higher-income64%36 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income73%Higher-income70%2 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 7Lower-income18%Higher-income48%30 pp gap