The top reported proficiency rate is 64% in English language arts. The lowest is 44% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Memorial Elementary School
Memorial Elementary School in Pitman is a regular public school serving a single span of early grades: PreK through first grade. Its enrollment tilts heavily toward the youngest children, with most of the student body in PreK, followed by smaller kindergarten and first-grade groups. The school’s demographic profile is predominantly white, with a much smaller share of students identifying as Hispanic, Black, or multiracial. A modest share of families qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating a relatively low level of economic disadvantage within the school community. Data on students with disabilities and English learners was not available in the records provided.
The school sits in Pitman, a compact, primarily residential borough in Gloucester County that grew from a nineteenth-century Methodist camp meeting ground. The town’s historic core, called Uptown, runs along Broadway with a mix of antique shops, restaurants, and the old Broadway Theater. Pitman is a walking district that does not operate school buses; the three public schools, including Memorial, are within walking distance of most homes. The borough’s population has been gradually declining over recent decades, though a planned light-rail stop and the end of the town’s dry status have brought some new commercial activity. Housing in the area is priced around the middle of the county’s range, and the local market shows moderate activity with homes typically selling within a few weeks.
The academic test results available for Memorial come from the 2018-19 school year, before a major restructuring. At that time, the school served a wider grade span that included third through fifth grades. On New Jersey’s state assessments, students across those grades posted proficiency rates that varied by subject and grade level but, taken together, placed the school’s overall performance in the top quarter among the districts in Gloucester County. That relative strength is notable, but a parent should understand that these results reflect a different configuration than the one in place today. Since the 2023-24 school year, the Pitman district has consolidated its elementary schools due to a loss of state aid, and Memorial now only serves PreK through first grade. The district’s other elementary school, Pitman Elementary, serves second through sixth grades, and Pitman Junior/Senior High covers seventh through twelfth. This restructuring means that Memorial’s academic profile going forward will be shaped by its new, early-grades-only mission, and the older test data no longer represents the current student body.
Because Memorial serves only PreK and first grade, there is no graduation rate to report, and state testing does not apply to these grades. The school has no charter or magnet designation. Information on discipline, course access, staffing ratios, and chronic absenteeism was not provided. For families considering enrollment, the most relevant features are the school’s focused early-childhood role, the district’s walking policy, and the recent reconfiguration that reshaped grade alignments across all three Pitman schools. The housing market in Pitman is stable, with home values that are affordable relative to the state median, and the compact, walkable layout of the borough means that getting to school does not require a car for most families.
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