The top reported proficiency rate is 35% in English language arts. The lowest is 27% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Franklin Elementary
Franklin Elementary is a regular public school in the Township of Union School District, serving children from prekindergarten through fourth grade. It sits on Lindy Terrace in a residential pocket of Union Township, a densely settled suburban community in Union County, New Jersey. The school draws its enrollment from the surrounding neighborhood, and the peer environment reflects that.
The student body is diverse, with a composition that is predominantly Black, with a substantial Hispanic share and much smaller shares of Asian and White students. About half of the students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which is a marker of the economic mix in the attendance zone. The school enrolls a mid-sized population for an elementary school serving only the earliest grades, with classrooms from pre-K through fourth grade.
State testing in New Jersey is administered through the NJSLA assessments, and Franklin Elementary participates in math and English language arts testing for grades three and four. The data available for a recent school year shows that overall proficiency across those tested grades and subjects places the school below the midpoint relative to districts in Union County. That is a straightforward observation from the numbers, but a parent may want to understand what it means for their child. In grade three, the share of students meeting proficiency in math was modest, and in English language arts it was somewhat higher but still below a majority. In grade four, math proficiency was lower, while English language arts proficiency reached about two in five students. These are the results for the all-students group; the school does not report data broken out by specific subgroups such as students with disabilities or English learners, so a parent with a child in those categories may want to ask the school directly about supports and outcomes.
Because Franklin Elementary serves only through fourth grade, there is no graduation rate to report. After fourth grade, students move on to one of the district's middle schools, so the elementary years here are the foundation of a longer academic pathway. The school's program offerings are not detailed in the available data, but the district has recently introduced Spanish instruction for all students in kindergarten through fourth grade, so Franklin families can expect a new world language component as part of the curriculum.
The broader community of Union Township shapes the context around the school. Union is a mix of residential, commercial, and industrial uses, traversed by major highways and the Garden State Parkway. The township has a downtown area and a train station on the Raritan Valley Line, which reinforces commuting patterns to Newark and New York. Home values in the zip code area are elevated, well above national benchmarks, and rents are correspondingly high. The housing market in Union County is active, with a median listing price that reflects the region's cost of living. Population growth has been steady, with the township seeing a noticeable increase over recent years, which puts pressure on school facilities and enrollment capacity.
The district responded to that growth with a major reorganization plan approved by voters through a referendum that funds facility upgrades across all schools, including roof replacements, security vestibules, and HVAC improvements. The reorganization, implemented in the fall of 2025, shifted grade configurations: Franklin Elementary now serves pre-K through fourth grade, while Jefferson School became a full pre-K through five primary school, and all sixth graders now attend the district's two middle schools. For families at Franklin, this means their child will leave after fourth grade and transition to middle school a year earlier than under the previous configuration.
Franklin Elementary is a neighborhood school in a growing suburban township, serving a diverse and economically mixed student body through the primary grades. The test results suggest room for improvement relative to other Union County districts, and a parent may want to discuss academic support and intervention programs with the school. The district is investing in facilities and expanding elementary world language instruction, which adds a new program element. The community itself is dense, car-oriented, and relatively expensive for housing, with steady demand from new residents. This school fits a family looking for a local elementary within a larger district system that is actively reorganizing to manage enrollment and update its buildings.
See more original research from School Decision →