East Brook Elementary School, Park Ridge NJ

Original Research by School Decision on East Brook Elementary School

East Brook Elementary School serves kindergarten through sixth grade in Park Ridge, a predominantly residential borough in the Pascack Valley region of Bergen County. The school is one of three in the Park Ridge School District, which also includes West Ridge Elementary and a combined middle and high school for grades seven through twelve. The district’s schools are integrated into the borough’s residential fabric rather than set on separate campuses, and the community is connected by the Park Ridge NJ Transit station on the Pascack Valley Line, a state-designated transit village.

The student body is small for a K-6 school, which shapes the peer environment. White students make up a majority of enrollment, with a substantial Hispanic presence and a smaller Asian cohort; Black students and students of two or more races each form very small shares of the population. A very small share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a far lower rate than the national average, placing the school in an affluent context. Data for students receiving special education services or English learner support was not available.

Academically, the story is mixed. English language arts performance is a clear strength. Across grades three through six, proficiency rates sit comfortably above the midpoint for Bergen County districts. Fifth and sixth graders post particularly strong results, with a large majority meeting the state’s proficiency bar. Math performance is solid but less consistent. Third graders show strong results, but fourth grade sees a dip, with about half of students scoring proficient. Fifth and sixth graders recover to a level around two-thirds proficient. The overall proficiency index across tested subjects and grades places the school above the midpoint among districts in Bergen County, a high-performing region in its own right.

Science, tested in fifth grade, is a soft spot. A relatively modest share of students scored at the proficient level, and the average scale score was substantially lower than the math and English averages for that same grade. A parent may want to ask the school about science instruction and resources, especially since elementary science is a building block for later coursework.

The school offers no graduation rate because it does not serve high school grades. Likewise, the district brief did not yield information on recent referendums, budget shifts, or curriculum changes, so it is not possible to say whether any such changes are in the works. Chronic absenteeism data was also absent.

Housing in Park Ridge is expensive. Home values are high and have been rising, pricing this community well above national and state benchmarks. Rents are also elevated, and the area’s price-to-income ratio and rent-to-income ratio point to affordability pressure for many households. The borough has seen population growth in recent years, reversing an earlier decline, and its transit village designation may encourage some development near the train station. The departure of major corporate tenants like Hertz and Sony has freed commercial properties, though no large new housing projects were identified in available public reporting.

For a family considering this school, the picture is one of consistent English language arts achievement, solid but varied math results, and a science score that warrants attention. The peer group is small and homogenous in economic terms, with very few students from low-income households. The community is suburban, commuter-connected, and expensive. The soft spot in science is real and worth discussing with the school, but the overall academic profile, anchored by strong literacy, is above the norm even for this competitive county.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 372%

School 72% · District 76% · ▼ 3 pts below district

▲ 22 pts above state median · ▲ 4 pts above county median

Grade 451%

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

▲ 5 pts above state median · ▼ 14 pts below county median

Grade 566%

School 66% · District 75% · ▼ 9 pts below district

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

Grade 666%

School 66% · District 70% · ▼ 4 pts below district

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

English language arts

Grade 372%

School 72% · District 69% · ▲ 4 pts above district

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

Grade 471%

School 71% · District 76% · ▼ 5 pts below district

▲ 16 pts above state median · ▼ 2 pts below county median

Grade 586%

School 86% · District 85% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▲ 32 pts above state median · ▲ 14 pts above county median

Grade 683%

School 83% · District 84% · ▼ 1 pts below district

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

Science

Grade 539%

School 39% · District 51% · ▼ 12 pts below district

▲ 11 pts above state median · ▼ 3 pts below county median

This schoolPark Ridge 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.