Radcliffe School, Nutley NJ - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Radcliffe School

Radcliffe School is a regular public elementary school in Nutley, serving students from pre-kindergarten through sixth grade. It belongs to the Nutley Public School District, which operates several elementary schools spread across the township along with a middle school and high school. The school sits in a densely populated suburban township with quiet, tree-lined streets and a largely residential character, where no home is far from a park or playground. Nutley's civic life and schools are distributed through neighborhoods rather than concentrated in a downtown core.

Radcliffe's enrollment is moderate for its grade band, drawing from the local attendance zone. The student body is predominantly white, with a substantial Hispanic population and smaller shares of Asian, Black, and multiracial students. A modest share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, placing the school in a relatively low-poverty context compared to many other Essex County schools. Data on students with disabilities and English learners was not available in the provided records.

On state assessments, Radcliffe's academic performance generally sits above the midpoint among districts in Essex County when considered across all tested grades and subjects, according to the comparison data available. In math, proficiency rates are solid across third through fifth grades, where a majority of students meet or exceed state standards; in sixth grade, the share proficient drops to roughly half, a soft spot a parent may want to discuss with the school. In English language arts, results vary noticeably by grade level. Fourth graders show strong performance, with a large majority reaching proficiency. Sixth graders also do well. Third and fifth graders post lower proficiency rates, closer to half of students meeting the bar. Science, tested only in fifth grade, shows a weaker outcome with fewer than half of students scoring proficient. Overall, the school demonstrates some grade-level and subject-area unevenness that families may want to track.

Because Radcliffe is an elementary school, there is no graduation rate to report. Chronic absenteeism data was also missing from the records provided. The school's type is regular and it is not a charter or magnet school, and Title I status was not indicated, which fits with its relatively low share of students receiving free or reduced-price lunch.

In the broader Nutley context, the district has made a notable shift in recent years, expanding full-day pre-kindergarten significantly while reducing half-day slots. This change makes full-day Pre-K the standard, a factor for families weighing early education options and care arrangements. Nutley itself has seen a modest population increase over time, and the former Hoffmann-La Roche campus, once a major employer and tax base, is being redeveloped into a mixed-use life sciences and technology center, representing the township's largest economic development initiative.

For a family considering Radcliffe, the picture is of a typical suburban elementary school in a residential community with good neighborhood amenities. The academic data shows solid performance in several grades and subjects, with some areas where proficiency could be higher. The school's size and demographics reflect the surrounding community. Parents may want to look into the grade-level variation in test results, particularly the drop in sixth-grade math and the weaker science scores, and ask the school about how it supports students across different years. The district's Pre-K expansion may also be a practical consideration for families with younger children looking ahead.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 368%

School 68% · District 56% · ▲ 11 pts above district

▲ 18 pts above state median · ▲ 29 pts above county median

Grade 462%

School 62% · District 59% · ▲ 4 pts above district

▲ 17 pts above state median · ▲ 24 pts above county median

Grade 561%

School 61% · District 60% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▲ 18 pts above state median · ▲ 29 pts above county median

Grade 651%

School 51% · District 62% · ▼ 11 pts below district

▲ 17 pts above state median · ▲ 27 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 350%

School 50% · District 48% · ▲ 2 pts above district

▲ 5 pts above state median · ▲ 9 pts above county median

Grade 478%

School 78% · District 69% · ▲ 9 pts above district

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

Grade 557%

School 57% · District 69% · ▼ 12 pts below district

▲ 3 pts above state median · ▲ 9 pts above county median

Grade 667%

School 67% · District 86% · ▼ 19 pts below district

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

Science

Grade 543%

School 43% · District 40% · ▲ 3 pts above district

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

This schoolNutley 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.