F. W. Holbein Middle School, Mount Holly NJ

Original Research by School Decision on F. W. Holbein Middle School

F. W. Holbein Middle School serves grades five through eight in Mount Holly, the county seat of Burlington County. The school is part of the Mount Holly Township Public School District, and the township itself is a mix of government center, small-town commercial hub, and residential community. Its historic downtown is organized around High Street, with a street grid dating to the 18th century and many contributing buildings in the Mount Holly Historic District. County government is a major employer, along with some light manufacturing. The population has seen a longer-term decline over the past couple of decades, though a modest recovery was estimated in recent years. The school is located on Levis Drive, and the district did not show any major parent-relevant changes in publicly reported information.

Just over two-thirds of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, a substantial share that indicates the school serves a community with significant economic need. The student population is diverse: Black and Hispanic students each make up roughly a third of enrollment, with White students accounting for about a quarter, and the remaining students are Asian, two or more races, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, and American Indian or Alaska Native.

On state assessments administered through the New Jersey Student Learning Assessment, Holbein Middle School’s proficiency rates across tested subjects and grades sit in the bottom quartile relative to other districts in Burlington County. In English language arts, the share of students scoring proficient or above ranged from about three in ten to just over four in ten depending on the grade level. In math, the range was wider and lower: roughly one in ten eighth-graders met the proficiency bar, while the rate was about three in ten for sixth and seventh graders, and closer to two in ten for fifth graders. Science results were particularly low, with about one in ten fifth-graders and an even smaller share of eighth-graders reaching the proficiency threshold. A parent considering this school should look into how the school supports students who are not yet meeting grade-level benchmarks, especially in math and science, and what academic interventions or enrichment programs are available.

Because Holbein serves only middle grades, there is no high school graduation rate to report for this school. The available data also did not include information on chronic absenteeism, discipline, course access, staffing, or special education and English learner populations. Those are meaningful gaps for any family trying to understand the full picture of student support and school climate.

On the housing side, the town’s home values are moderately above the national benchmark but well below the New Jersey state average. Rents relative to incomes suggest affordability is strained but not out of reach compared with much of the state. The county housing market showed an increase in active listings and a small uptick in median listing price, with homes spending a short time on the market — a sign of ongoing demand.

Holbein is a regular public school with no charter or magnet designation. It is neither a selective nor a specialized school, so every student in attendance zone is assigned here. For a family, the central question is whether the academic support structure matches what their child needs. The proficiency data points to a school where many students are below grade level, and the available information does not say how the school addresses that. A visit and a conversation with the principal about interventions, enrichment, and how the school tracks individual student growth would be a reasonable next step for any parent trying to decide if this middle school is a good fit.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 518%

School 18% · District 18%

▼ 25 pts below state median · ▼ 26 pts below county median

Grade 630%

School 30% · District 30%

▼ 3 pts below state median · ▼ 6 pts below county median

Grade 735%

School 35% · District 35%

even with state median · ▼ 3 pts below county median

Grade 811%

School 11% · District 11%

▼ 6 pts below state median · ▼ 11 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 536%

School 36% · District 36%

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

Grade 642%

School 42% · District 42%

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

Grade 739%

School 39% · District 39%

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

Grade 830%

School 30% · District 30%

▼ 28 pts below state median · ▼ 22 pts below county median

Science

Grade 510%

School 10% · District 10%

▼ 17 pts below state median · ▼ 18 pts below county median

Grade 87%

School 7% · District 7%

▼ 6 pts below state median · ▼ 8 pts below county median

This schoolMount Holly 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 5Lower-income29%Higher-income49%20 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income32%Higher-income57%24 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income29%Higher-income55%26 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income25%Higher-income36%11 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 5Lower-income14%Higher-income24%10 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income20%Higher-income48%28 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income31%Higher-income41%10 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income9%Higher-income15%7 pp gap