Washington School, Lodi NJ - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Washington School

Washington School is an elementary school in Lodi serving students from pre-kindergarten through fifth grade. As a regular public school within the Lodi School District, it is one of five elementary buildings spread across the borough. Because it serves only early and middle elementary grades, there is no graduation rate to report, and the academic picture comes entirely from state assessments in math, English language arts, and science for grades three through five.

The school’s performance is uneven across subjects and grade levels, and a parent considering Washington will want to look closely at the variation. In English language arts, third and fourth graders posted strong proficiency rates, with fourth grade particularly high. Fifth grade ELA was lower but still a solid showing. Math tells a different story: third grade math proficiency was respectable, fourth grade dropped to a moderate level, and fifth grade math fell to a low rate. Science, tested only in fifth grade, also came in low. The overall proficiency index across all tested subjects and grades places the school below the midpoint relative to districts in Bergen County. The pattern suggests a particular challenge in upper-elementary math and science that a parent may want to explore with the school to understand the supports in place.

The student body reflects the diversity of the surrounding community. A majority of students are Hispanic, with a substantial share of white students and smaller populations of Asian and Black students. More than half of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating a school serving many families with lower household incomes. Enrollment across the grades is fairly balanced, with roughly similar class sizes from kindergarten through fifth grade. Data on students with disabilities and English learners was not available in the standard reporting, so a parent who needs that information should ask the school directly.

Lodi itself is a densely built borough in Bergen County, one of New Jersey’s most compact communities. Its residential streets and commercial corridors along Route 17, Route 46, and Main Street give it a classic North Jersey feel. The borough has a historical industrial past along the Saddle River, now mostly residential with a small Catholic university, Felician University, adding a modest collegiate presence. Housing values in the area are high, reflecting the broader Bergen County market, and the borough is largely built out with limited room for large new developments. Growth has been incremental.

At the district level, the Lodi School District has passed consecutive annual budgets with modest tax levy increases over the past few years. The increases are small for the average homeowner but cumulative. The district also filed a major amendment to its Long Range Facility Plan in 2023, identifying a significant sum of needed improvements across all seven schools, including roof replacements, HVAC upgrades, and security enhancements. That signals future infrastructure investment that could eventually affect district finances, though the district has maintained programs and services through the recent budgets.

For a family weighing Washington School, the key questions are about the academic trajectory in math and science as students approach fifth grade, and about the specific support services available for the many students who qualify for meal assistance. The elementary setting provides a neighborhood school experience in a dense, family-oriented borough with steady but predictable property tax pressures.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 364%

School 64% · District 59% · ▲ 5 pts above district

▲ 14 pts above state median · ▼ 5 pts below county median

Grade 453%

School 53% · District 48% · ▲ 5 pts above district

▲ 7 pts above state median · ▼ 12 pts below county median

Grade 527%

School 27% · District 48% · ▼ 21 pts below district

▼ 16 pts below state median · ▼ 36 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 370%

School 70% · District 63% · ▲ 7 pts above district

▲ 25 pts above state median · ▲ 6 pts above county median

Grade 484%

School 84% · District 72% · ▲ 12 pts above district

▲ 28 pts above state median · ▲ 11 pts above county median

Grade 560%

School 60% · District 71% · ▼ 11 pts below district

▲ 6 pts above state median · ▼ 12 pts below county median

Science

Grade 527%

School 27% · District 29% · ▼ 3 pts below district

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

This schoolLodi 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 3Lower-income69%Higher-income73%4 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income81%Higher-income89%8 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income56%Higher-income67%11 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income63%Higher-income65%2 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income45%Higher-income65%20 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income19%Higher-income39%20 pp gap