The top reported proficiency rate is 49% in English language arts. The lowest is 9% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Palmyra Middle School
Palmyra Middle School serves students in sixth through eighth grade as part of the Palmyra Public School District in Burlington County, New Jersey. It is a regular public school, not a charter or magnet school. Its enrollment is small, and the school is embedded within the borough’s compact street grid rather than set on a separate campus. The school building itself is one of the district’s three main sites, with Charles Street Elementary for the lower grades and Palmyra High School continuing through twelfth grade.
The student body is diverse. A little more than half of the students are white, with the remainder coming from Hispanic, Black, multiracial, Asian, and Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander backgrounds. More than a third of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating that a meaningful share of families are managing tighter household budgets. No data was available on the share of students with disabilities or those learning English, so a parent may want to ask the school directly about the support structures in place for these groups.
State testing results from the most recent school year show a mixed picture. In English language arts, seventh graders had a proficiency rate that was about two in five students, while eighth graders reached a rate closer to three in five. Those figures are higher than the school’s performance in math, where roughly one in five seventh graders and one in four eighth graders scored at the proficient level or above. Science results for eighth graders were very low, with fewer than one in ten students meeting the bar. Placed against other districts in Burlington County, the school’s overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades sits below the midpoint of the county. This pattern suggests that while some students are achieving solid results in literacy, the math and science outcomes are areas where a family would want to understand the instructional approach and any targeted interventions the school offers.
There is no graduation rate to report, as the middle school spans only sixth through eighth grade and does not graduate students. The small size of the school means each grade has a relatively small cohort, which can allow for more individual attention but also means that performance data for a single grade can swing more sharply from year to year than in a larger school.
The community context of Palmyra matters for families considering the school. The borough is a small, primarily residential town on the Delaware River with a dense street grid and a quiet, walkable character. The Tacony-Palmyra Bridge connects it directly to Philadelphia, and the River Line light rail and NJ Transit bus service provide transit options for commuters. Housing values are moderate relative to the state benchmark, and the market has been active, with a limited supply of homes for sale. The borough has seen only modest population growth in recent years and appears largely built out, so it is a stable rather than rapidly expanding community.
In early 2024, residents approved a substantial bond referendum to fund district-wide facility upgrades, with a significant portion earmarked for work at the middle and high school. This means the school building is likely to see improvements in the near future, though it also carries property-tax implications for district residents.
For a family evaluating this school, the central takeaway is that Palmyra Middle School offers a small, diverse, and community-embedded setting. The academic outcomes are strongest in eighth-grade English language arts, but math and science proficiency is an area of concern, and the school’s overall performance relative to other districts in the county is below average. The small grade sizes mean that individual student experiences may vary considerably. A parent considering a move to the area or enrollment should plan to visit the school, ask about how the district addresses math and science instruction, and inquire about support for students who are not yet meeting grade-level benchmarks.
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