The top reported proficiency rate is 16% in English language arts. The lowest is 7% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Penns Grove Middle School
Penns Grove Middle School serves grades six through eight in the Penns Grove-Carneys Point Regional School District. It is a regular public school located in Penns Grove, a small, dense borough on the Delaware River in Salem County. The community has a working-class, family-oriented character, with a significant share of households headed by single women and a high property tax rate. The borough has seen a long-term population decline but is actively pursuing a commercial revival along Virginia Avenue. The school building is on Maple Avenue, integrated into the borough’s street grid rather than sitting on a separate campus.
The student body reflects the surrounding community. The school enrolls a sizable overall population for its grade band, split fairly evenly across sixth, seventh, and eighth grades. The racial and ethnic composition is predominantly Hispanic and Black, with a smaller share of white students and small numbers of students from other racial groups. A large majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a marker of the economic circumstances many families face. Data on special education and English learner populations was not available in the state reporting we saw.
State testing results from the New Jersey Student Learning Assessments provide a clear picture of academic performance. In mathematics, proficiency rates were thin across all three grade levels, declining as students advanced, with the eighth-grade rate particularly low. In English language arts, the pattern was similar: proficiency rates were modest in sixth grade, lower in seventh, and higher in eighth, but still at a modest level. The school’s performance in eighth-grade science was also thin. Taking all tested subjects and grades together, the school’s overall proficiency index placed it in the bottom quartile among Salem County districts. This is a significant soft spot. A parent considering this school may want to ask the school directly about its academic support and intervention strategies for students who are below grade level.
Because the school serves only middle grades, it does not produce a graduation rate, so that metric is not available.
We looked for the district’s recent strategic priorities or changes of note and found little publicly reported; no major budget shifts, leadership changes, or program overhauls surfaced in a structured search. The district brief produced no parent-relevant changes. That may reflect a period of stability or simply less visible public communication.
The broader community context matters for what happens outside school hours. Penns Grove is a walkable borough with a traditional street grid, bus service to Philadelphia and Woodstown, and a riverbank that serves as a civic anchor. Housing values in the ZIP code are well below the state benchmark, making this one of the more affordable places in New Jersey to own a home. The borough’s population has been in long-term decline, and housing vacancy is notable, but local officials are working to attract new development.
For a family weighing this school, the evidence points to a community-driven middle school in an affordable, dense borough where students face real academic challenges. The testing results are a clear area of concern that potential residents would want to discuss with the school’s administration. The school does not have a published slate of advanced course offerings or special programs in the data we reviewed, which may matter for families with students ready for above-grade-level work. The school’s staff-to-student ratios and specific disciplinary or attendance patterns were also not available in our data. Those are reasonable things to ask about on a visit.
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