Mount Arlington Public School, Mt Arlington NJ

Original Research by School Decision on Mount Arlington Public School

Mount Arlington Public School is a single school serving grades three through eight in the borough of Mount Arlington, a small suburban community on the southeast shore of Lake Hopatcong. The school is the sole upper elementary and middle school for the district; younger students attend the Edith M. Decker School for prekindergarten through second grade, and once they finish eighth grade, students go to Roxbury High School in neighboring Roxbury Township through a sending-receiving arrangement. The borough itself was once a thriving summer resort with large hotels and an amusement park on Bertrand Island, but it is now primarily a residential community that attracts commuters to New York City. NJ Transit provides rail service from a Mount Arlington station, and Lakeland Bus Lines runs along Interstate 80 to the Port Authority Bus Terminal. The lake remains a major recreational anchor, and Minisink County Park is nearby for hiking.

Academically, the school’s performance on the New Jersey Student Learning Assessments shows a split picture. In English language arts, students in grades six, seven, and eight post strong results, with a large share scoring at proficient or above. The lower grades—three, four, and five—also perform solidly but not at the same level. In math, the pattern is more uneven. Proficiency rates in grades three through seven fall in a modest range, and eighth-grade math results were suppressed, so no data is available for that grade. In science, performance is mixed: fifth graders show a moderate share of proficiency, while eighth graders have a weaker showing. A parent may want to look into this further with the school, particularly around math support in the middle grades. Overall, when compared to other districts in Morris County, the school’s combined proficiency index sits below the midpoint of the county’s districts. That said, the strength in upper-grade ELA is a clear bright spot.

The student body is small, with a total enrollment that reflects the borough’s size. The demographic composition is predominantly white, with a substantial Hispanic population and smaller shares of Asian and Black students. About one in five students qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, a figure that is relatively low and points to a generally middle-income community. The school does not report data on students with disabilities or English learners, so those details are not available. The school is a regular public school, not a charter or magnet, and it does not appear to have a Title I designation.

The housing market in Mount Arlington is expensive. Home values are well above the national average, and rents are also substantial. The borough experienced a period of significant population growth in the decades leading up to 2020, but more recent estimates suggest growth has largely plateaued. The housing stock is limited, with a low vacancy rate. For families considering a move to the area, the combination of high housing costs and a commuter-oriented lifestyle means the school serves a population that is relatively stable and economically secure.

No information on programs, extracurriculars, or staffing was available in the data, so it is not possible to describe the breadth of course offerings or support services. The district brief turned up no recent changes of note.

Mount Arlington Public School fits a family looking for a small, suburban K-8 environment where the upper-grade English language arts results are strong and the community is lake-oriented and commuter-connected. The math and science scores, particularly in eighth grade, are areas where a parent would want to ask questions. The school’s size and single-building structure mean that students move through grades in a familiar setting before transitioning to a larger high school in a neighboring town.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 345%

School 45% · District 45%

▼ 5 pts below state median · ▼ 23 pts below county median

Grade 455%

School 55% · District 55%

▲ 10 pts above state median · ▼ 10 pts below county median

Grade 550%

School 50% · District 50%

▲ 7 pts above state median · ▼ 16 pts below county median

Grade 651%

School 51% · District 51%

▲ 18 pts above state median · ▼ 4 pts below county median

Grade 743%

School 43% · District 43%

▲ 9 pts above state median · ▼ 16 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 355%

School 55% · District 55%

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

Grade 451%

School 51% · District 51%

▼ 4 pts below state median · ▼ 20 pts below county median

Grade 563%

School 63% · District 63%

▲ 9 pts above state median · ▼ 11 pts below county median

Grade 689%

School 89% · District 89%

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

Grade 783%

School 83% · District 83%

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

Grade 883%

School 83% · District 83%

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

Science

Grade 550%

School 50% · District 50%

▲ 23 pts above state median · ▲ 3 pts above county median

Grade 831%

School 31% · District 31%

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

This schoolMount Arlington 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-income62%Higher-income52%9 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income33%Higher-income57%24 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income69%Higher-income91%22 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income39%Higher-income48%10 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income42%Higher-income60%18 pp gap