The top reported proficiency rate is 83% in Math. The lowest is 77% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Grandview Elementary School
Grandview Elementary School serves children from prekindergarten through third grade in North Caldwell, a small residential borough in Essex County, New Jersey. The school is part of the North Caldwell School District, which also includes Gould School for fourth through sixth grade. Students then move on to West Essex Middle School and West Essex High School, part of a regional district that also serves the neighboring communities of Fairfield, Essex Fells, and Roseland. The school's grade span means that for families considering it, the elementary experience is an early chapter in a longer educational pathway that crosses multiple buildings and districts.
North Caldwell itself is a low-density suburb of single-family homes on hilly, wooded roads, with only modest commercial activity on the northern and southern ends of town. Borough officials refer to it as the "green jewel" of Essex County. There is no downtown, no public library branch within the borough, and no transit hub; the town is car-dependent. The local economy is almost entirely residential, with the school districts themselves being the major institutional employers. The most notable recent development was the conversion of the former Essex County Penitentiary site into a residential community. This is a place where the housing market is expensive; a family considering a move here should expect a substantial financial commitment relative to national averages, with monthly costs for owning or renting running well above typical benchmarks.
Grandview's enrollment is in the mid-hundreds, a size that is common for a school serving only early elementary grades. The student body is predominantly white, with Asian and Hispanic students each making up a notable share of the population, and smaller numbers of Black and multiracial students. Data on economic disadvantage, special education services, and English learner status are not available from state reports, which is a gap a parent may want to investigate directly with the district for a fuller picture of student support needs.
On state assessments, Grandview's third graders performed at a very high level. In both math and English language arts, the share of students scoring at proficient or advanced levels was well above the midpoint for schools statewide. The school's overall proficiency index, which averages results across tested subjects and grades, placed it in the top quartile of all schools relative to others in Essex County. The data here is from a single year and a single grade, so it offers a snapshot rather than a trend, but it is a strong snapshot.
No discipline data, chronic absenteeism rates, or staffing information were available in the provided records. The school's status regarding Title I funding was also not reported. Because Grandview serves only early grades, there is no high school graduation rate to consider, and no advanced coursework programs to evaluate.
Families looking at Grandview are essentially considering entry into the North Caldwell and West Essex school systems, where early academic results look strong and the community context is one of affluence and low density. The next step would be to talk with the district about what supports are in place for students who need extra help, since the available data on special education, English learning services, and economic need is absent. For a family that values strong early proficiency numbers and a quiet suburban setting, and that can manage the housing costs, Grandview presents a clear option.
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