The top reported proficiency rate is 92% in Math. The lowest is 63% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Franklin Elementary School
Franklin Elementary School is one of the elementary schools in the Summit Public School District, serving students from first through fifth grade. It is a regular public school, not a charter or magnet, and it does not participate in Title I programming. The school’s setting is Summit, a city in Union County that functions as both a commuter town for New York City and a commercial hub for the surrounding area, with a walkable downtown district along Springfield Avenue and a centrally located NJ Transit station offering express rail service to Manhattan.
Academically, Franklin performs at a very high level. On the state’s NJSLA assessments, students across grades three, four, and five score well above typical proficiency rates in both English language arts and mathematics. The school’s overall proficiency, averaged across all tested subjects and grades, places it in the top quarter of elementary schools when compared against districts across Union County. Reading and math results are especially strong, with the large majority of students meeting or exceeding state standards in every tested grade. In fifth-grade science, proficiency is somewhat lower, though still above the county median; a parent interested in the science curriculum may want to ask the school how it addresses that subject.
The student body is moderate in size, with enrollment spread fairly evenly across the five grades. The racial and ethnic composition is predominantly white, with a sizeable Asian population, a smaller Hispanic share, and a small Black population. A very small share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating that the school serves a largely affluent community. Data on students with disabilities and English learners were not available in the source materials.
Housing in Summit is expensive. Home values are well above national and state medians, and rents are similarly high. The housing market is competitive, with limited supply relative to demand. The community’s economic context includes major employers such as Overlook Medical Center and Bristol Myers Squibb, and the city has a mix of historic estates, subsidized senior housing, and units for low- and middle-income families, but the overall cost of entry is high.
The Summit district has recently made two notable changes. It fully implemented full-day kindergarten, a shift that affects families with young children entering the system. And in the 2024-2025 school year, the district launched a strategic planning process involving stakeholders to set a new vision and action plan, which will influence resource allocation and priorities going forward. These initiatives suggest a district that is actively shaping its direction, though the specific outcomes are not yet known.
Franklin Elementary offers a strong academic environment with consistently high test results in literacy and math. The peer group is predominantly white and economically advantaged. For families who can afford the area’s housing costs and who prioritize a school with top-quartile academic performance, Franklin is a clear fit. Families who place a premium on socioeconomic diversity or who want to see more detail on science performance may want to ask the school directly about how it supports that subject, particularly given the dip in fifth-grade results. Data on discipline, staffing, attendance, and chronic absenteeism were not available; those are areas a parent may wish to explore with the school or district.
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