Lower Alloways Creek Elementary School, Salem NJ

Original Research by School Decision on Lower Alloways Creek Elementary School

Lower Alloways Creek Elementary School serves students from pre-kindergarten through eighth grade in Salem, a small historic county seat in New Jersey’s most rural county. The school is the sole public elementary building in the Lower Alloways Creek district and operates as a regular public school. Because it does not serve high school grades, there is no graduation rate to report.

Salem sits along the Salem River, with a traditional downtown centered on Broadway and Market Street. The city has a working port terminal on the west side, and in prior decades was a center of glass manufacturing and tomato canning. Residential neighborhoods are compact around the historic core, but Salem’s location in rural Salem County means that many daily errands and commutes require a car. Home values in the area are below the New Jersey state average, and property taxes are among the highest in the state. The local housing market has seen modest appreciation in recent years.

Enrollment at the school is small, and the student body is overwhelmingly white. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. Information on students with disabilities and English learners was not available in the data reviewed.

State assessment results from the New Jersey Student Learning Assessment show a mixed picture that varies notably by grade and subject. In mathematics, the share of students scoring proficient or above ranges from low in the early elementary grades to roughly half of students in grades seven and eight. English language arts results follow a similar pattern: third and fourth grade proficiency is low, while seventh graders reach a higher level of proficiency. Science results, which are tested in grades five and eight, are lower than the English and math scores. Across all tested grades and subjects, the school’s overall proficiency index sits below the midpoint when compared with other districts in Salem County.

No chronic absenteeism data, discipline records, or course access information were available for this school, so a parent may want to ask the district directly about attendance patterns and what academic supports are offered beyond the core curriculum.

A search for recent district-level changes, such as curriculum shifts or facility referendums, turned up little of lasting consequence. The Lower Alloways Creek district appears to have been in a period of relative stability on those fronts.

For families considering this school, the setting is a small, rural community with a historic downtown, a working port, and a school that carries students from pre-kindergarten through the end of middle school. Academic results are uneven across grades, with stronger performance in the upper middle school years in English and math, and weaker results in early elementary and science. The school’s small size means class groups are modest, and the demographic makeup is not very diverse. Parents who value a close-knit rural environment with a single school serving all elementary and middle grades may find this a straightforward fit, though the proficiency data suggests that some children may need additional support, particularly in the lower grades.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 317%

School 17% · District 17%

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

Grade 413%

School 13% · District 13%

▼ 32 pts below state median · ▼ 24 pts below county median

Grade 533%

School 33% · District 33%

▼ 9 pts below state median · even with county median

Grade 642%

School 42% · District 42%

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

Grade 755%

School 55% · District 55%

▲ 20 pts above state median · ▲ 12 pts above county median

Grade 847%

School 47% · District 47%

▲ 30 pts above state median · ▲ 29 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 317%

School 17% · District 17%

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

Grade 420%

School 20% · District 20%

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

Grade 540%

School 40% · District 40%

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

Grade 632%

School 32% · District 32%

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

Grade 773%

School 73% · District 73%

▲ 16 pts above state median · ▲ 16 pts above county median

Grade 857%

School 57% · District 57%

▼ 1 pts below state median · ▲ 10 pts above county median

Science

Grade 513%

School 13% · District 13%

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

Grade 824%

School 24% · District 24%

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

This schoolThe Lower Alloways Creek 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.