The top reported proficiency rate is 51% in English language arts. The lowest is 49% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on James Russell Lowell Elementary School
James Russell Lowell Elementary School serves kindergarten through fourth grade in Teaneck, a diverse and densely settled township in Bergen County within the New York metropolitan area. The school is one of the district's elementary buildings, and its early-grade focus means students move on to a different school before middle school; there are no state assessment results beyond fourth grade and no graduation rate to report because those measures do not apply here.
The student body reflects the broader community's diversity. Hispanic students make up the largest share, followed by Black students, then white, Asian, and smaller numbers of multiracial, Native American, and Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander students. About half of the students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a share that is substantial but not unusual for a public school in an older suburban township where the housing market carries a mix of higher-end prices and more modest rentals.
Test results from the New Jersey Student Learning Assessments for the most recent year available show a varied picture. In third-grade math, a solid majority of students scored at or above the proficient level. In fourth-grade math, the share dropped to just over a third. English language arts results were the reverse: third-grade proficiency was below half, and fourth-grade proficiency rose above half. The school's overall proficiency across all tested subjects and grades sits below the midpoint when compared against other schools in Bergen County. That county benchmark is a high one, as Bergen County contains some of the state's strongest-performing districts, so the positioning reflects both the school's own results and the competitive reference group. The drop between third and fourth grade math, in particular, is a pattern a parent may want to discuss with the school to understand how instruction and curriculum shift across those years.
The school operates as a regular public school in the Teaneck School District. The district has made a notable recent addition: Theodora Smiley Lacey Elementary School opened in 2020 as a dedicated PreK–Kindergarten building, which changed the attendance landscape for the district's youngest learners. That means Lowell's kindergarten students may have entered after a year at the Lacey school, depending on the attendance zone, and incoming families should confirm the feeder pattern and early childhood options.
Teaneck itself is a bedroom community with no single downtown. Four commercial districts, including Cedar Lane and Teaneck Road, spread across the township. The 2024 Master Plan prioritizes commercial revitalization, pedestrian and bike improvements, and flooding and drainage concerns. Major employers include Cognizant Technology Solutions and Holy Name Medical Center, and Fairleigh Dickinson University's Metropolitan Campus is within the township. Housing values in Teaneck's zip code are elevated relative to national medians, reflecting the area's proximity to New York City and the competitive Bergen County market. Rents are similarly high, and the affordability ratio between rent and income suggests that renting here consumes a significant share of household earnings.
Lowell Elementary sits within this residential fabric. The school is not a magnet or charter; it is a neighborhood-based elementary school serving its immediate attendance zone. Families considering Lowell should weigh the academic patterns visible in the early grades, particularly the math dip between third and fourth year, and the fact that their child will move to a different school after fourth grade. The community context is one of a diverse, well-established township with strong civic and commercial anchors, active development priorities, and a housing market that demands serious income. The school's test results place it in the middle to lower portion of a high-performing county, which is useful context but not the whole story for a building that serves only primary grades.
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