The top reported proficiency rate is 91% in Math. The lowest is 81% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Hartshorn School
Hartshorn School serves a very specific academic stage. It is a kindergarten-through-fourth-grade elementary school in Short Hills, part of the Millburn Township School District. Because a student spends just a few years here before moving to the district-wide fifth-grade school, the experience is deliberately focused on the early elementary years. The school is a regular public school, not a charter or magnet, and it has no Title I designation. That alone tells you a great deal about the resource context.
The student body is sizable for a K-4 building. Racially and ethnically, the school is predominantly Asian and white, with a much smaller share of students who are two or more races, Hispanic, or Black. A very small fraction of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. Data on students with disabilities and English learners was not available in the records examined. A parent exploring this school would want to ask the district directly about the share of special education students and English learners, how services are staffed, and what the classroom composition looks like.
Academically, Hartshorn posts standout results on New Jersey’s state assessments. In third-grade math, the proficiency rate is high; fourth-grade math climbs even higher. In English language arts, third graders also show strong proficiency, while fourth graders are at a solid but lower level than their third-grade peers. The overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades places Hartshorn in the top quartile among all districts in Essex County. This is a school where the typical student is meeting or exceeding grade-level expectations in both math and reading, and the pattern suggests a strong instructional foundation that families often associate with the district’s reputation. There is no graduation rate to report because the school ends at fourth grade.
Short Hills itself is an affluent, largely built-out residential community, planned from its founding as a commuter town for people working in Manhattan. The housing market reflects that. Home values are very high relative to national and state benchmarks, and rental costs are similarly elevated. For a family moving into the area, the financial commitment is significant. The community has a small downtown business area near the train station, but most commercial activity centers on the Mall at Short Hills. Parks, the Cora Hartshorn Arboretum, and the train station (with direct service to Penn Station) are the main civic anchors. The population has grown modestly over recent decades, and the housing stock is almost entirely single-family homes on large lots, with little new development.
The district’s structure is a notable feature. Hartshorn is one of five K-4 elementary schools in Millburn Township. All fifth graders then attend Washington School, a district-wide transitional campus before moving to Millburn Middle School and then Millburn High School. This means that a child at Hartshorn will shift schools twice before entering high school. Some families see that as a positive, giving students a dedicated fifth-grade experience; others prefer a single elementary through middle school. Either way, it is a known pattern that shapes how parents choose their neighborhood within the district.
No recent major referendums, curriculum overhauls, or tax shifts surfaced in a search for district-level changes. The Washington School program, though structurally important, predates the window for recent changes. The district appears stable, with no reported disruptions or contentious policy shifts in the immediate past.
In sum, Hartshorn School offers a strong academic start in a wealthy, stable community with high housing costs. The student body is not economically diverse. The school’s test performance is very strong relative to county peers. The academic pathway is segmented by grade, with a dedicated fifth-grade campus, which is an important logistical detail for any parent planning ahead. For a family that values high early-elementary proficiency and can afford the area, this school fits that profile. For a family looking for economic diversity or a single K-8 or K-12 campus, or for those concerned about the lack of publicly available special-population data, it may raise questions worth investigating further with the school or district directly.
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