Bayview Elementary School, Belford NJ

Original Research by School Decision on Bayview Elementary School

Bayview Elementary School serves the elementary-age children of Belford, a small coastal unincorporated community in Middletown Township, Monmouth County. The school provides kindergarten through fifth grade instruction for a student population that is predominantly white, with a modest Hispanic presence and small shares of other racial and ethnic groups. A relatively modest proportion of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch.

The school is part of the Middletown Township Public School District, which oversees schools across the larger township rather than being centralized in Belford itself. Belford is a quiet residential area with a maritime character, anchored by the Belford Seafood Co-op and a ferry terminal that provides commuter service to New York City. Most residents commute by car for work, and the community lacks a traditional walkable downtown. The Henry Hudson Trail offers recreational access. Housing values in the area have seen an uptick, and the median home value places this among pricier zip codes relative to national averages.

State testing results from the NJSLA assessments show a varied picture across grade levels and subjects. In English language arts, the school posted solid proficiency in third grade, with the share of students meeting the proficient or above threshold dropping by a measurable amount in fourth grade and holding at a similar level in fifth grade. In math, the school's strongest showing came in third grade, where a clear majority of students met the proficiency mark, while fourth grade saw a more moderate result and fifth grade landed between those two levels. These results across the three tested grades position Bayview's overall proficiency slightly below the midpoint among elementary schools in Monmouth County.

Science testing, which occurs only in fifth grade, produced a low proficiency rate. This is an area a parent may wish to discuss further with the school. It is worth noting that the low science score stands in contrast to the school's stronger results in English language arts and math, particularly at the third-grade level.

Because the school serves only elementary grades, there is no graduation rate to report. Similarly, data on chronic absenteeism and staffing are not available in the record. The absence of those metrics is a gap that leaves a parent without a clear picture of student engagement patterns or teacher-to-student ratios.

The school operates as a regular public school and is not a charter or magnet institution. Information on whether it receives Title I funding is not provided. The district itself, for which we looked for parent-relevant changes such as leadership transitions, boundary revisions, or program overhauls, did not yield any specific findings in publicly available search results. That means a parent looking to understand the district's current direction or recent adjustments would need to consult district communications or attend a board meeting directly.

Bayview Elementary presents as a neighborhood school serving a moderately resourced community along the Jersey Shore. Its academic profile is strongest in early elementary literacy and math, with a notable dip in fourth-grade math and a science score that calls for a closer look. For a family in Belford seeking a small, grade-band-limited elementary school with a generally solid but not standout performance in the early grades, Bayview is the local option. The housing costs in the area and the commuting lifestyle that many residents lead are part of the broader picture a family would weigh when considering this community.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 360%

School 60% · District 63% · ▼ 3 pts below district

▲ 10 pts above state median · even with county median

Grade 442%

School 42% · District 62% · ▼ 20 pts below district

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

Grade 548%

School 48% · District 59% · ▼ 11 pts below district

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

English language arts

Grade 360%

School 60% · District 54% · ▲ 7 pts above district

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

Grade 455%

School 55% · District 66% · ▼ 11 pts below district

▼ 1 pts below state median · ▼ 7 pts below county median

Grade 554%

School 54% · District 65% · ▼ 11 pts below district

even with state median · ▼ 8 pts below county median

Science

Grade 517%

School 17% · District 38% · ▼ 21 pts below district

▼ 10 pts below state median · ▼ 19 pts below county median

This schoolMiddletown Township Public 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-income50%Higher-income64%14 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income33%Higher-income68%35 pp gap