Downe Township School District

Downe Township School District is a small, rural school district in New Jersey that serves only one school, Downe Township Elementary School, which educates students from pre-kindergarten through 8th grade. The school faces significant challenges, with consistently low academic performance across all grade levels and subject areas, as well as high chronic absenteeism rates and a predominantly low-income student population.

Downe Township Elementary School's academic performance, as measured by NJSLA test scores, lags far behind the state averages, with proficiency rates ranging from 0% to 30% in English Language Arts and 0% to 18.8% in Mathematics. The school's 8th grade Science performance is also extremely low, with 0% of students scoring proficient or better, compared to the state average of 18.6%. This poor academic performance is coupled with a high chronic absenteeism rate of 18.2%, which is significantly higher than the state average.

Despite the school's higher per-student spending of $15,041 and a relatively low student-to-teacher ratio of 9.3, the educational outcomes remain poor. This suggests that simply increasing funding may not be the sole solution to improving student achievement. The school's challenges are further compounded by the fact that 45.75% of its students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating a predominantly low-income student population that may require additional support and resources to succeed academically.