Catherine a Dwyer Elementary School, Wharton NJ

Original Research by School Decision on Catherine a Dwyer Elementary School

Catherine A Dwyer Elementary School serves students in kindergarten through fifth grade as a regular public school within the Rockaway Township School District. The school is located in Wharton, a small, densely settled borough in the Morris County highlands that was originally an iron-ore shipping port on the Morris Canal and today is primarily residential, with a notable Hispanic and Latino population. The borough sits just south of Picatinny Arsenal, a major Army research center, and is wedged between Routes 15, 46, and 80. Its motto is “Tradition with Progress,” and the borough has seen population growth in recent years, with a corresponding focus on managing housing obligations through a regional planning group.

Dwyer’s student body is drawn from the surrounding neighborhood, and the school’s enrollment is moderate for an elementary school serving six grade levels. The student population is predominantly white, with a substantial Hispanic and Latino presence, and very small shares of Asian, Black, multiracial, and Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander students. The share of students who qualify for free or reduced-price lunch is relatively low, which can be a useful proxy for the economic profile of the families the school serves. Data on students with disabilities and English learners was not provided, so a parent may want to ask the school directly about those support structures.

In terms of academic performance on the New Jersey Student Learning Assessments in 2024-25, the picture is mixed. Across the three tested grade levels, math proficiency was strongest in fourth grade, where a clear majority of students met the state’s proficiency benchmark, and was also solid in third grade, with a majority reaching that level. In fifth grade, math proficiency was notably lower, with fewer than half of students scoring proficient. A similar pattern emerged in English language arts: fourth graders posted strong proficiency rates, while third grade results were more modest, and fifth graders again dipped, with just over half achieving proficiency. Fifth grade science results were lower across the board, with fewer than a third of students meeting the state’s proficiency standard. These results place the school’s overall proficiency index below the midpoint when compared with other districts in Morris County. A family considering this school may want to look into what supports are available for students as they move into the upper elementary grades, particularly for math and science.

The school serves grades that are not tested in all subjects above grade five, and it does not serve high school grades, so there is no graduation rate to report. The district’s brief did not surface any recent major changes or initiatives publicly reported. Wharton’s elementary students feed into the Rockaway Township School District’s middle and high schools, and the broader district context positions this school within a county known for generally strong academic performance.

Housing in the area carries a premium relative to national benchmarks. Home values in the zip code are above the national median, and rents are also high. The county’s housing market shows elevated demand metrics and a relatively low inventory of available homes. For families considering a move to the attendance zone, the cost of housing and rental prices are factors worth weighing directly.

Overall, Catherine A Dwyer Elementary School offers a smaller-scale elementary setting in a community with a historic industrial identity and a diverse population. Its academic performance shows genuine strength in fourth grade across both math and reading, while results in third and fifth grades, and particularly in fifth grade science, are weaker and may warrant a closer look from families prioritizing consistent high attainment through the elementary years.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 360%

School 60% · District 66% · ▼ 7 pts below district

▲ 10 pts above state median · ▼ 8 pts below county median

Grade 472%

School 72% · District 65% · ▲ 8 pts above district

▲ 27 pts above state median · ▲ 8 pts above county median

Grade 549%

School 49% · District 55% · ▼ 6 pts below district

▲ 6 pts above state median · ▼ 17 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 344%

School 44% · District 57% · ▼ 13 pts below district

▼ 1 pts below state median · ▼ 16 pts below county median

Grade 472%

School 72% · District 67% · ▲ 5 pts above district

▲ 17 pts above state median · ▲ 1 pts above county median

Grade 555%

School 55% · District 65% · ▼ 10 pts below district

▲ 1 pts above state median · ▼ 19 pts below county median

Science

Grade 529%

School 29% · District 39% · ▼ 10 pts below district

▲ 2 pts above state median · ▼ 18 pts below county median

This schoolRockaway Township 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-income56%37 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income40%Higher-income79%39 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income31%Higher-income63%32 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income41%Higher-income69%27 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income30%Higher-income81%51 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income29%Higher-income57%27 pp gap