Loudenslager Elementary School, Paulsboro NJ

Original Research by School Decision on Loudenslager Elementary School

Loudenslager Elementary School serves grades three through six in Paulsboro, a compact industrial borough on the Delaware River in Gloucester County. Paulsboro is described in municipal history as an industrial town with a mix of factories, retail along Broad Street, and residential neighborhoods, shaped by a major refinery and the Port of Paulsboro. The borough is small in land area and relatively dense, connected to Philadelphia by bus and train. Population has seen a modest increase in recent years. The housing market in the area shows home values below state benchmarks, and rents are moderate relative to the national median. Local civic anchors include the Tinicum Island Rear Range Lighthouse and Fort Billingsport, lending a historic character to the waterfront.

Loudenslager is the school within the Paulsboro School District that covers the upper elementary grades, meaning students enter here after primary grades and then move on to the junior-senior high school. The district participates in the federal Community Eligibility Program, so all students receive free breakfast and free lunch at no cost, a lasting benefit that removes the need to track meal payments. The district is also an approved New Jersey Interdistrict Public School Choice district for grades three through twelve, meaning families living outside Paulsboro can apply to enroll their children here without paying tuition, an unusual feature for an elementary school that brings students from a wider area.

The school enrolls a student body that is diverse. The largest identified racial or ethnic group is Black, followed by Hispanic students and then white students, with a smaller share identifying as two or more races. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price meals, though in practice the Community Eligibility Program makes breakfast and lunch free for everyone, so the count reflects the economic profile of the community more than a daily transaction.

State testing results from the New Jersey Student Learning Assessments are available for math, English language arts, and science. The data shows proficiency rates that fall well below state averages across all tested grades and subjects. In math, the share of students scoring at proficient or above is consistently low from third through sixth grade, with no grade reaching a high mark. English language arts results are similarly low across each grade level. Science results for fifth grade are also very low. Compared to other districts in Gloucester County, Loudenslager’s overall proficiency index places it in the bottom quartile of the county, a straightforward signal for a parent assessing the school’s academic standing. Participation rate data was not available in the reported assessment file, so it is not possible to confirm what share of students took these tests.

No data on chronic absenteeism was reported for this school, and no discipline or staffing metrics were available, so a parent may want to ask the school directly about attendance patterns and class sizes. The school offers no high school pathway of its own; all students move on to Paulsboro Junior-Senior High School for seventh grade and above, which makes the transition point relevant for families thinking long-term about secondary options.

For a family considering Loudenslager, the core picture is a small, diverse upper elementary school where state test scores are low. The clear strength is the universal free meals program and the interdistrict choice policy, which make the school accessible on cost and enrollment grounds. The setting is a riverfront industrial borough with modest home values and a compact layout, not a suburban district with high-end test results. A parent choosing this school should expect to engage deeply with classroom learning at home and may want to investigate what academic support and enrichment the school offers beyond what the state test results reflect.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 317%

School 17% · District 17%

▼ 33 pts below state median · ▼ 35 pts below county median

Grade 412%

School 12% · District 12%

▼ 34 pts below state median · ▼ 35 pts below county median

Grade 520%

School 20% · District 20%

▼ 23 pts below state median · ▼ 23 pts below county median

Grade 613%

School 13% · District 13%

▼ 21 pts below state median · ▼ 21 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 318%

School 18% · District 18%

▼ 28 pts below state median · ▼ 27 pts below county median

Grade 424%

School 24% · District 24%

▼ 32 pts below state median · ▼ 30 pts below county median

Grade 514%

School 14% · District 14%

▼ 40 pts below state median · ▼ 39 pts below county median

Grade 614%

School 14% · District 14%

▼ 40 pts below state median · ▼ 43 pts below county median

Science

Grade 55%

School 5% · District 5%

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

This schoolPaulsboro 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 3Lower-income19%Higher-income11%8 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income24%Higher-income22%2 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income10%Higher-income23%13 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income9%Higher-income29%20 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income16%Higher-income17%0 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income12%Higher-income11%1 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income18%Higher-income27%9 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income13%Higher-income12%1 pp gap