The top reported proficiency rate is 37% in English language arts. The lowest is 11% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Ralph J. Steinhauer Elementary School
Ralph J. Steinhauer Elementary School serves fifth and sixth graders in the Maple Shade School District of Burlington County, New Jersey. This is a regular public school, not a charter or magnet, and its grade span is narrow: students spend two years here before moving on to a middle or high school in the district. That makes it a transition point between the primary grades and the secondary level, and there is no broader program data in the record to indicate specialized academies, career pathways, or magnet themes.
Academically, the state testing results from the New Jersey Student Learning Assessments present a straightforward picture. In both fifth and sixth grade, math proficiency was reported at a modest level, and science proficiency in fifth grade was lower still. English language arts proficiency was stronger, with roughly twice as many students meeting the state’s proficiency criteria in reading and writing as in math. When placed against other districts in Burlington County, Steinhauer’s overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades sits in the bottom quartile among the county’s districts. This is a soft spot in the school’s profile. A parent may want to ask the school about how it supports students who are not yet meeting benchmarks in math and science, and what interventions are in place.
The school community is economically diverse. More than half of Steinhauer’s students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which is a substantial share. The student body is also racially and ethnically varied: white students make up the largest group, followed by Hispanic students, then Black students, with smaller shares of multiracial and Asian students. Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander students are not represented in the reported counts. The school does not have publicly available data on the percentage of students with individualized education programs or English learner classifications, which is a gap that matters for families trying to understand special education and language support resources.
Steinhauer is in Maple Shade, a borough in Burlington County. The housing market in the area shows home values that are below the statewide benchmark and close to the national median. Rental costs are moderate in comparison to a typical household income. Mortgage rates at the time of the data were in a typical range, and the county housing market shows a fairly active set of listings and pending sales, with homes spending a modest number of days on market. For a family considering a move to the district, this is a reasonably affordable community relative to much of New Jersey.
The district itself has been investing in its facilities. Publicly reported information indicates that the Maple Shade School District passed a referendum and has been completing capital projects, including an addition at another elementary school in the district and a paving project at the high school. These improvements suggest a district that is maintaining and expanding its physical plant, which can affect classroom conditions and capacity.
Information on discipline, attendance, chronic absenteeism, and staffing are not available in the record, so it is not possible to speak to school climate or teacher retention from this data. The school has no reported data on course access, which makes sense given that it serves only two elementary grades and would not typically offer the kind of course catalog found in a high school.
For a family considering Steinhauer, the central trade-off is between a school with a diverse, economically mixed student body and a facility that sits in a community with relatively accessible housing, versus academic proficiency numbers that trail most of the county, especially in math and science. The school may serve its students well in other ways that are not captured in this data, but the numbers that are available suggest that a parent should expect to be actively involved in supporting their child’s academic progress, particularly in mathematics, and should ask the school directly about how it identifies and helps students who are below grade level. The school’s narrow grade band also means that any relationships with teachers and peers are relatively short, since students will move on after two years.
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