Weymouth Township Elementary School, Dorothy NJ

Original Research by School Decision on Weymouth Township Elementary School

Weymouth Township Elementary School is a regular public school in Dorothy, a very small, rural unincorporated community in Atlantic County, New Jersey. The school serves students from pre-kindergarten through eighth grade. After eighth grade, students from the community go on to attend Buena Regional High School. The school itself is a single-campus institution within the small residential grid of Dorothy, which consists of roughly ten blocks of single-family homes on larger lots. The community is car-dependent, with limited street life and no downtown commercial district. The Dorothy Volunteer Fire Company is a notable local institution, and historically the area was tied to poultry farming and a Jewish Agricultural Society resettlement program. The community’s population has been stable to slightly declining in recent years.

The school is part of the Weymouth Township School District. We looked for recent district changes such as curriculum overhauls, referendum outcomes, or property-tax shifts that would affect a parent’s decision, but found no publicly reported information on lasting parent-relevant changes in the last several years.

This is a small school, with an enrollment that is modest for its grade band. The student body is predominantly white, with a Hispanic population making up a meaningful share of enrollment and a small number of students who identify as Asian, black, or two or more races. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which is an indicator of economic need. Data on students with disabilities and English learners was not reported in the available data.

On state assessments, the school shows a mixed picture that varies by grade level and subject. In math, performance is strongest in the early elementary grades, where a majority of students in grades three through five met the state’s proficiency standard. Performance declines notably in the middle grades. In grade six, the proficient share drops considerably, and by grade eight it declines further, with a minority of students reaching proficiency. This pattern suggests that students who enter the school performing relatively well may face challenges as the curriculum advances. A parent may want to ask the school how it supports students through the transition to middle-grade math.

In English language arts, the pattern is similar. Strong majorities of students in grades three and four met the proficiency standard, with performance staying well above the midpoint of the cohort of Atlantic County districts overall. By grade five, the share proficient drops to about half. Grade six again shows a decline, with less than half of students proficient. Grade seven recovers to a level above half, but grade eight falls back to a low share. The variability from grade to grade is something a family with children across these grades may want to discuss with the school.

Science is assessed in grades five and eight. In grade five, more than a third of students scored at the proficient level. No eighth-grade student scored proficient, according to the reported data. This is a significant gap. A parent may want to look into this with the school to understand how science instruction and preparation for the state assessment are structured in the middle grades.

Overall, when measured across tested subjects and grades, the school’s proficiency index places it above the midpoint of districts in Atlantic County. That positioning reflects the stronger performance in the early grades. The school does not serve high school grades, so no graduation rate or college-readiness measures such as AP or dual-credit offerings are applicable here. Data on chronic absenteeism was not available.

For a family considering this school, the picture is one of a small, rural elementary and middle school where early academic performance is a relative strength, but where the middle grades show a noticeable drop-off, particularly in math and science. The school serves a community that is quiet, low-density, and primarily residential. Families who value a small, local school in a rural setting may find it a fit, but those with children approaching the middle grades will want to ask detailed questions about academic support and curriculum rigor in those years.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 372%

School 72% · District 72%

▲ 22 pts above state median · ▲ 37 pts above county median

Grade 460%

School 60% · District 60%

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

Grade 563%

School 63% · District 63%

▲ 20 pts above state median · ▲ 37 pts above county median

Grade 635%

School 35% · District 35%

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

Grade 743%

School 43% · District 43%

▲ 8 pts above state median · ▲ 12 pts above county median

Grade 827%

School 27% · District 27%

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

English language arts

Grade 361%

School 61% · District 61%

▲ 16 pts above state median · ▲ 28 pts above county median

Grade 467%

School 67% · District 67%

▲ 11 pts above state median · ▲ 26 pts above county median

Grade 550%

School 50% · District 50%

▼ 4 pts below state median · ▲ 13 pts above county median

Grade 639%

School 39% · District 39%

▼ 15 pts below state median · ▼ 4 pts below county median

Grade 757%

School 57% · District 57%

even with state median · ▲ 11 pts above county median

Grade 828%

School 28% · District 28%

▼ 30 pts below state median · ▼ 22 pts below county median

Science

Grade 538%

School 38% · District 38%

▲ 10 pts above state median · ▲ 18 pts above county median

Grade 80%

School 0% · District 0%

▼ 13 pts below state median · ▼ 9 pts below county median

This schoolWeymouth 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.