Jefferson Elementary School, Westfield NJ

Original Research by School Decision on Jefferson Elementary School

Jefferson Elementary School serves grades one through five in Westfield, a wealthy residential community in Union County with a strong downtown core and a commuter population that works heavily in New York City. The school is part of the Westfield Public School District.

The student body is predominantly white, with an Asian population that makes up the second-largest racial group and small Black, Hispanic, and multiracial shares. The share of students who qualify for free or reduced-price lunch is very small. This composition is consistent with the town’s economic profile. Westfield’s median household income is more than double the statewide median, and the housing market reflects that: home values are high, and rents are elevated. The town has a walkable downtown, active street life with year-round events, and a stable, established character. The school sits in a residential neighborhood away from the commercial core, on its own campus.

On state testing, Jefferson posts strong results. In math, proficiency rates in grades three, four, and five are solid, with the fourth-grade rate being the highest among them. In English language arts, the same pattern appears across all three tested grades: a strong majority of students meet the state’s proficiency benchmark. Fifth-grade science results are somewhat lower than math and ELA performance in that grade, a pattern a parent may want to ask the school about more directly. The school is positioned in the top quartile among districts in Union County for overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades, a strength worth noting.

The school serves only elementary grades, so there is no graduation rate for Jefferson. The curriculum and program data for the school was not available in the sources provided, so a parent would need to look directly at what the school offers in terms of enrichment, specials, or academic support. The district itself had no parent-relevant changes reported from recent years.

Westfield is a built-out suburb with slow, incremental growth. The town faces redevelopment pressures around the former Lord & Taylor site, but the school’s immediate context is one of stable, high-value residential neighborhoods. A family moving here should expect a peer environment where economic diversity is limited and academic performance is consistently above average. The school fits a family seeking a reliably strong elementary academic environment in an affluent suburban setting with a vibrant downtown and easy rail access to New York City.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 382%

School 82% · District 78% · ▲ 3 pts above district

▲ 32 pts above state median · ▲ 41 pts above county median

Grade 485%

School 85% · District 83% · ▲ 2 pts above district

▲ 39 pts above state median · ▲ 50 pts above county median

Grade 573%

School 73% · District 76% · ▼ 3 pts below district

▲ 30 pts above state median · ▲ 38 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 378%

School 78% · District 76% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▲ 32 pts above state median · ▲ 36 pts above county median

Grade 479%

School 79% · District 81% · ▼ 2 pts below district

▲ 23 pts above state median · ▲ 31 pts above county median

Grade 577%

School 77% · District 80% · ▼ 3 pts below district

▲ 23 pts above state median · ▲ 27 pts above county median

Science

Grade 563%

School 63% · District 61% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▲ 36 pts above state median · ▲ 43 pts above county median

This schoolWestfield Public 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.