Valley Road School, Stanhope NJ - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Valley Road School

Valley Road School is the single public school serving the Stanhope School District in Sussex County, New Jersey, covering prekindergarten through eighth grade. For high school, Stanhope families send their children to Lenape Valley Regional High School, which also serves students from neighboring Netcong and Byram Township. This makes Valley Road the academic home for the borough’s younger students and a feeder into a regional high school setting.

On state assessments, the school’s overall proficiency across tested grades and subjects sits above the midpoint among districts in Sussex County, a solid position. But the pattern varies by grade and subject. In English language arts, performance strengthens as students advance. Fourth grade and seventh grade both show strong proficiency, and eighth grade ELA is similarly high. Fifth and sixth grade also post respectable results. This suggests the school’s literacy instruction builds effectively through the middle years. In math, the story is more uneven. Fourth and fifth grade math proficiency is strong, but a notable drop appears in sixth grade, and by eighth grade math proficiency is very low. A parent concerned about math preparation for high school may want to ask how the school supports struggling middle-grades math students and what interventions are in place. In science, fifth grade results are mixed, while eighth grade science is weak, mirroring the math pattern.

The student body is predominantly white, with a substantial Hispanic minority and small shares of Black, Asian, multiracial, and Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander students. The share of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch is modest, indicating that the school serves a primarily middle-income community without high concentrations of poverty. Data on students with disabilities and English learners was not reported in the available records, so a parent with a child in either category should check with the school directly about support services.

Stanhope itself is a small, mostly residential borough with a rural-suburban feel. It was once an iron manufacturing center, and remnants of that industrial past remain, but the town has transitioned to a bedroom community. The population has seen a slight decline in recent decades. The built environment is car-oriented, with a state route as the main access road and an interstate bypass nearby. Housing values in the area are moderate for New Jersey, and the market shows steady activity. The district recently held a bond referendum, a publicly reported effort that could lead to facility or program improvements; a parent moving into the area may want to learn the outcome and what it means for the school.

Because Valley Road ends at eighth grade, families will eventually navigate the high school transition to Lenape Valley Regional. That school serves multiple towns and may offer different program options, so it is worth looking into early. The absence of high school means no graduation rate is available for this school, which is expected given the grade band.

Altogether, Valley Road School offers a positive reading program in the middle grades and a math profile that deserves attention from parents, especially those with children approaching the upper elementary and middle school years. The community is stable and small, the housing market is accessible relative to many New Jersey neighborhoods, and the district appears to be investing in its facilities. A family that values a tight-knit, single-school district with a regional high school option and is willing to ask about middle-grades math support will find a straightforward environment here.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 347%

School 47% · District 47%

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

Grade 465%

School 65% · District 65%

▲ 19 pts above state median · ▲ 19 pts above county median

Grade 567%

School 67% · District 67%

▲ 25 pts above state median · ▲ 28 pts above county median

Grade 636%

School 36% · District 36%

▲ 2 pts above state median · ▼ 3 pts below county median

Grade 746%

School 46% · District 46%

▲ 12 pts above state median · even with county median

Grade 85%

School 5% · District 5%

▼ 12 pts below state median · ▼ 15 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 346%

School 46% · District 46%

▲ 1 pts above state median · even with county median

Grade 478%

School 78% · District 78%

▲ 23 pts above state median · ▲ 24 pts above county median

Grade 565%

School 65% · District 65%

▲ 11 pts above state median · ▲ 9 pts above county median

Grade 655%

School 55% · District 55%

▲ 1 pts above state median · ▼ 5 pts below county median

Grade 771%

School 71% · District 71%

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

Grade 873%

School 73% · District 73%

▲ 15 pts above state median · ▲ 9 pts above county median

Science

Grade 543%

School 43% · District 43%

▲ 16 pts above state median · ▲ 15 pts above county median

Grade 818%

School 18% · District 18%

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

This schoolStanhope 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-income20%Higher-income56%36 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income42%Higher-income74%33 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income30%Higher-income54%24 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income33%Higher-income81%47 pp gap