Bunker Hill Middle School, Sewell NJ

Original Research by School Decision on Bunker Hill Middle School

Bunker Hill Middle School, a regular public school in the Washington Township School District in Sewell, serves grades six through eight and has an enrollment that fits a mid-sized middle school for its grade band. Sewell itself is an unincorporated community in Gloucester County, a suburban area with a housing market that has seen a modest increase in typical home values and a county median listing price that has remained steady, with homes selling fairly quickly. The area is primarily residential, with institutional anchors like Rowan College of South Jersey and the Gloucester County Institute of Technology, along with Tall Pines State Preserve as a recreational amenity. A planned light rail stop could shape future development, but for now the community remains auto-dependent and suburban in character.

On state assessments, Bunker Hill shows a clear and consistent pattern: English language arts is a strength, with proficiency rates that are solid across all three grades. Math performance is more uneven and notably weaker in eighth grade, and science proficiency, which is tested only in eighth grade, is a soft spot. For a parent, the reading and writing instruction appears to be a genuine asset, while the math and science results are areas where you may want to understand how the school supports students who are not yet meeting the bar. The school sits above the midpoint among districts in Gloucester County on a composite proficiency measure, which places it in the stronger half of the local comparison set. The student body is predominantly white, with a smaller share of Hispanic students, a modest Asian population, and a still smaller Black population. A relatively small proportion of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating a lower level of economic need than in many schools. Data on students with disabilities and English learners was not available.

The school operates as a regular middle school with no charter or magnet status, and the district brief showed no recent major changes or initiatives publicly reported. Sewell’s location within Washington Township means the school serves a mix of the broader township rather than a single town center, and the lack of a traditional downtown in Sewell itself reinforces a car-dependent school drop-off and pickup pattern. The housing in this part of Gloucester County has a typical home value that is above the national benchmark but below the state average, and the area’s tight housing supply is evident in low vacancy rates. For a family moving into the area, the home-buying market is competitive, with limited inventory.

The overall academic profile suggests Bunker Hill is a school where a student who is strong in language arts will find a lot of success, while a student who struggles with math or science may need extra attention and support. The school’s size and demographic composition provide a peer environment that is moderately diverse but largely middle-income and suburban. A parent considering this school should look into how the school addresses the drop-off in math proficiency from sixth to eighth grade, and what interventions or programs are in place for students who are not at grade level in math. The absence of data on discipline, staff qualifications, and course access means a parent should ask the school directly about class sizes, advanced course options in middle school, and the school climate. Overall, Bunker Hill presents a reading-strong academic picture with clear areas for a parent to investigate further.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 649%

School 49% · District 40% · ▲ 10 pts above district

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

Grade 737%

School 37% · District 36% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▲ 2 pts above state median · even with county median

Grade 816%

School 16% · District 17% · ▼ 1 pts below district

▼ 1 pts below state median · even with county median

English language arts

Grade 671%

School 71% · District 64% · ▲ 6 pts above district

▲ 17 pts above state median · ▲ 13 pts above county median

Grade 767%

School 67% · District 66% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▲ 9 pts above state median · ▲ 10 pts above county median

Grade 864%

School 64% · District 68% · ▼ 4 pts below district

▲ 6 pts above state median · ▲ 3 pts above county median

Science

Grade 821%

School 21% · District 18% · ▲ 3 pts above district

▲ 8 pts above state median · ▲ 5 pts above county median

This schoolWashington Township 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 6Lower-income51%Higher-income77%26 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income60%Higher-income69%9 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income40%Higher-income70%30 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 6Lower-income30%Higher-income56%26 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income19%Higher-income45%25 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income11%Higher-income17%6 pp gap