The top reported proficiency rate is 41% in English language arts. The lowest is 33% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Battle Hill Elementary
Battle Hill Elementary is a regular public school in Union Township, serving students from PreK through fourth grade. It is one of ten elementary buildings in the Township of Union School District, a suburban district in Union County. The school’s enrollment is relatively modest for its grade band, drawing from a neighborhood that is racially and economically diverse. Hispanic students make up the largest group, followed by Black students, then white students, with smaller shares of Asian and multiracial students. More than a third of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a marker that the school serves a mix of household incomes.
The academic picture at Battle Hill comes from state testing in grades three and four, the only tested grades in the building. Results from the New Jersey Student Learning Assessments show a split story. In third grade, just over half of students met the proficiency bar in English language arts, and roughly two-fifths did so in math. Those rates fall in fourth grade: about three out of ten students reached proficiency in ELA, and about a quarter in math. When combining all tested subjects and grades, the overall proficiency index falls below the midpoint of schools within Union County’s districts. This is a soft spot that parents may want to explore further with the school, especially given the sharp drop from third to fourth grade in both subjects. The data available does not include information on special education or English learner services, so it is unclear how those populations may factor into the results.
The school does not serve high school grades, so there is no graduation rate to report, and no chronic absenteeism data is available in this profile.
Battle Hill sits in the Killian Place neighborhood of Union, a township that blends residential streets with light industry, big-box retail, and the large campus of Kean University. The community is car-oriented, with major highways and an NJ Transit rail station that parking-heavy, but the area is densely settled and has seen steady population growth in recent years. Home values in the zip code are well above the national median, and rents are correspondingly high, placing this among the pricier segments of Union County’s housing market. The county has a strong economic base, with a GDP ranking among New Jersey’s top ten.
The district itself has been undergoing notable changes. Voters approved a substantial referendum to fund roof replacements, security upgrades, and HVAC improvements across all schools, including Battle Hill. More immediately, a district-wide reorganization took effect in fall 2025. Most elementary buildings, including Battle Hill, now serve PreK through fourth grade, while a separate building handles fifth grade and the middle schools take sixth graders. As part of that shift, all elementary schools have begun offering Spanish instruction for grades K-4, a new curriculum offering that may appeal to families seeking early language exposure.
No information on specific program offerings at Battle Hill beyond the new Spanish program was available, and no staffing or class-size data appears in the profile. The school’s website and the district office would be the logical next stop for a parent wanting details on enrichment, specials, or after-school options.
Battle Hill Elementary fits a family looking for a neighborhood school in a diverse, growing suburban community with solid transit access to the broader region. The academic scores are uneven, particularly in fourth grade, and the school performs below the average of its county peers on the measures available. A parent considering this school would want to ask about how the school supports students who are not yet at proficiency, what interventions are in place for the grade-level drop, and how the new Spanish program and facility improvements fit into the broader learning environment.
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