The top reported proficiency rate is 84% in English language arts. The lowest is 66% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Cedar Hill School
Cedar Hill School, a regular public school in the Montville Township School District, serves students from prekindergarten through fifth grade in the unincorporated community of Towaco. It is a neighborhood elementary school embedded in an affluent, primarily residential corner of Morris County, and its academic profile, student composition, and community context each tell a clear story about the kind of experience a family can expect here.
The school’s performance on New Jersey’s state assessments is a clear strength. Across tested grades in math and English language arts, proficiency rates are consistently high, and in the most recent testing year, the school’s overall proficiency index placed it in the top quartile relative to districts across Morris County. This is a school where most students are meeting or exceeding state standards, and the pattern holds across multiple grades and subjects. In the one tested science grade, proficiency is somewhat lower than in math and ELA, a pattern common in elementary schools where science is assessed less frequently and may get less instructional emphasis. A parent curious about science instruction might ask the school how they build toward that assessment across the elementary years.
The student body of Cedar Hill School is small for an elementary school serving kindergarten through fifth grade, with enrollment spread fairly evenly across those grades alongside a preschool program. Racially and ethnically, the student population is predominantly white, with a substantial Asian student presence and a smaller Hispanic share, and very small numbers of students who are Black, multiracial, or American Indian. The share of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch is very low, which aligns with the broader economic profile of the community. That low rate means the school sees relatively little of the economic stress that drives many of the support programs at higher-poverty schools. Data on students with disabilities and English learners was not available here, so a parent seeking information about those supports would want to ask the school directly.
The school setting itself is suburban through and through. Towaco is primarily a single-family-home community, heavily car-dependent, though the Towaco NJ Transit station on the Montclair-Boonton Line provides a commuter rail link for residents traveling to Newark or New York. The area has seen notable population growth in recent years, and housing values are very high. This is an expensive market, and the tight supply and strong demand mean that buying in is a significant investment. The commuting pattern is outward: most residents work outside the immediate area, and the train station is a central civic anchor.
Cedar Hill School is a prekindergarten-through-fifth-grade building, so it feeds into the district’s middle and high schools at the end of fifth grade. That means a family choosing this school is also choosing a pathway into the Montville Township secondary schools, which have their own academic reputation. The school’s strong elementary test results suggest a solid academic foundation as students move up.
For a family considering this school, the picture is fairly clear. This is a high-performing elementary school in an affluent, growing, commuter-oriented suburb. The academic results are strong and consistent. The community is expensive and predominantly white and Asian, with very low poverty indicators. The school does not serve older grades, so there is no graduation rate to report, and the district has not had any major recent changes publicly reported. The fit is strongest for families who can afford the area's housing, value high test scores as a proxy for school quality, and are comfortable with a low economic-diversity environment. A family wanting more socioeconomic or racial diversity, or one looking for a walkable or urban setting, would find this context less aligned with their preferences.
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