The top reported proficiency rate is 72% in English language arts. The lowest is 28% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Beers Street School
Beers Street School serves only fifth and sixth graders, so it is a short stop in a Hazlet student’s journey, sandwiched between elementary school and middle school. The school is one of two in the district that take students for those two grades, and its enrollment is small for a public school at that level. This is a regular public school in the Hazlet Township Public School District, not a charter or magnet, and it serves a residential town that functions primarily as a bedroom community for New York City.
The student body is overwhelmingly White, with a Hispanic or Latino population that is the next-largest group. Asian and Black students each make up a very small share of the enrollment. About a fifth of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which is a lower share than many New Jersey schools, but still means the school serves a meaningful number of families with economic need. Data on students with disabilities and English learners was not available, so a parent who wants to understand special education or language support should ask the school directly.
On state testing, the picture is mixed in a way that matters for how a family might think about these two years. English language arts is a clear strength. Both fifth and sixth graders posted strong proficiency rates on the NJSLA, well above what many schools in the state show. Mathematics is more moderate: fifth graders were below half proficient, while sixth graders crossed the halfway mark. Science testing, which happens only in fifth grade, showed a low proficiency rate. A parent may want to look into this further with the school, especially since science performance is far below the other subjects and the school serves only two grades, leaving a narrow window to address gaps before students move on to middle school.
Because Beers Street School serves no high school grades, there is no graduation rate, and no chronic absenteeism data was reported. The overall proficiency index for the school, across tested subjects and grades, sits above the midpoint when compared with districts across Monmouth County. That is a solid but not top-tier position, and it matches the testing pattern: strong in reading, more uneven in math, and a noticeable soft spot in science.
Hazlet is a suburban township without a traditional downtown. Its commercial strips run along highways Route 35 and Route 36, and nearly everything requires a car. The NJ Transit train station at Hazlet offers commuter service on the North Jersey Coast Line to Newark and New York Penn Station, which is the main reason many families live here. The housing stock is mostly owner-occupied single-family homes, and home values have risen in recent years, sitting above the national median. The town is largely built out, with population declining slowly over the longer term, so this is not a fast-growth area with new subdivisions going up. It is a stable, established suburb where housing is expensive but less so than in communities closer to the city.
The district brief turned up no major recent changes or initiatives that would alter a family’s sense of the schools. That is not unusual for a small, stable district, but it means a parent interested in curriculum updates, facility plans, or new program offerings should check the district website or attend a board meeting. The school itself offers no special programs or academy tracks in the data; it is a straightforward intermediate school serving two grades in a district where students cycle through multiple buildings before reaching Raritan High School.
For a family weighing a move to Hazlet or choosing between this school and another, the key takeaway is that Beers Street School provides a solid language arts foundation in a small, low-poverty setting, but math and science performance are less consistent, and the two-year window means there is not much time to course-correct. The town offers a reliable commuter lifestyle with stable but not growing housing stock, and the school fits within that pattern: unflashy, functional, and tilted toward the basics.
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