Manasquan Elementary School, Manasquan NJ

Original Research by School Decision on Manasquan Elementary School

Manasquan Elementary School serves students from pre-kindergarten through eighth grade, making it the sole elementary and middle school within the Manasquan School District. Its single-building campus sits in the center of this small Jersey Shore borough, directly across Broad Street from the high school. For a family looking at this school, the setting is an immediate and defining fact: Manasquan is a densely built, walkable community where the beach, the downtown, and the train station are all within easy reach, and where the school itself is integrated into the daily life of the town rather than set apart on a large campus.

The student body is small in scale for a PK-8 school, and its composition is one of the most distinctive features. The student population is overwhelmingly white, and only a modest share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a figure that is well below both state and national norms. Data on students with disabilities and English learners was not available, so a parent may want to ask the school directly about those support structures. The school is not a Title I school, and its status as a charter or magnet was not indicated. What this means in practical terms is that the peer environment is fairly homogeneous, and the school does not appear to serve a high proportion of students facing economic disadvantage.

On state assessments, reading performance is a clear strength. In grades three through eight, the share of students scoring proficient or above in English language arts consistently falls well above midpoint expectations, with the strongest results seen in fifth grade and eighth grade. Math performance is more uneven. Third graders posted strong results, but in the upper grades, the share of students reaching proficiency drops modestly, and by eighth grade it is below half. Science results are available for fifth and eighth graders. Fifth-grade science proficiency is below half, and eighth-grade science proficiency is lower. A parent may want to look into this further with the school, particularly if science instruction is a priority.

The overall proficiency picture places Manasquan Elementary School above the midpoint among districts in Monmouth County, which is a solid position. The school is clearly delivering strong reading outcomes, and the math results, while mixed, are not weak across the board. The science results in the later grades are the most noticeable soft spot, and a family that values a strong STEM foundation might want to understand the curriculum and resources in those areas.

The housing market in and around Manasquan is very expensive, with home values at a level that would be challenging for many buyers, even by New Jersey standards. The county's median listing price is also high, and mortgage rates are at a point that further drives up monthly costs. Rents, as measured nationally, have been rising. This is a community that carries a significant financial entry barrier, and the school's demographics reflect that.

No recent district-level changes or strategic priorities were identified in publicly available searching. The district brief yielded little to report, so the absence of information here should not be read as a sign of instability or inaction.

Manasquan Elementary School fits well for a family that already lives in or can afford this borough, that values a small, centrally located school with a largely homogeneous student body, and that wants strong reading instruction as a baseline. The school's academic profile is solid for a county comparison, but the science results in the middle grades and the upper-grade math results suggest that not every subject area is equally strong. A family moving here specifically for the schools would want to confirm that the middle school experience, particularly in math and science, matches their expectations.

See more original research from School Decision →

Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 379%

School 79% · District 79%

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

Grade 460%

School 60% · District 60%

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

Grade 555%

School 55% · District 55%

▲ 12 pts above state median · ▲ 1 pts above county median

Grade 665%

School 65% · District 65%

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

Grade 754%

School 54% · District 54%

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

Grade 847%

School 47% · District 47%

▲ 30 pts above state median · ▲ 17 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 371%

School 71% · District 71%

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

Grade 470%

School 70% · District 70%

▲ 15 pts above state median · ▲ 9 pts above county median

Grade 581%

School 81% · District 81%

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

Grade 673%

School 73% · District 73%

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

Grade 766%

School 66% · District 66%

▲ 9 pts above state median · ▼ 3 pts below county median

Grade 875%

School 75% · District 75%

▲ 17 pts above state median · ▲ 7 pts above county median

Science

Grade 545%

School 45% · District 45%

▲ 18 pts above state median · ▲ 9 pts above county median

Grade 822%

School 22% · District 22%

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

This schoolManasquan 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.