Dr. J.P. Cleary Elementary School

Located at 1501 CENTRAL AVE, in MINOTOLA, New Jersey, Dr. J.P. Cleary Elementary School is a modestly sized elementary campus that instructs 320 students (grades 3 through 5), operated by Buena Regional School District. That puts it 21% below the typical public school in New Jersey, which averages around 405 students.

Across the 5 schools in Buena Regional School District (1,569 students total), Dr. J.P. Cleary Elementary School accounts for its share of the district's footprint.

In terms of who attends, Dr. J.P. Cleary Elementary School shows that 55% of the student body identifies as White. The remainder looks like 30% Hispanic, 10% Black, 3% multiracial. That composition is broadly in line with Atlantic County as a whole.

Looking at school resources, On paper, Dr. J.P. Cleary Elementary School has 23 full-time-equivalent teachers, translating to a class-load average of around 13.7:1. The state averages around 11.4:1, so this campus is higher than the state norm typical. About 62% of enrolled students meet the income threshold for free or reduced-price lunch, often used as a Title I proxy.

On a demographically-adjusted basis, Dr. J.P. Cleary Elementary School sits in the middle band of the BeatsExpectations distribution. Schools with this campus's student mix typically land near 32.1%; this one delivers 25.0%.

In the area at large, census data for Atlantic County shows the typical household earns roughly $78,050 per year, about 32% of the adult population holds a bachelor's degree or above, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 10%. Across Atlantic County's 77 public schools (combined enrollment of about 41,964 students), Dr. J.P. Cleary Elementary School is one campus in the mix.

Nearest neighbor: John C. Milanesi Elementary School, around 2.0 miles off. 8 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius. On composite proficiency, Dr. J.P. Cleary Elementary School comes 5th of 8 in the immediate cluster, above the nearby-schools average of 24.3%.

Geographically, the school is in a bedroom-community area.

Five-year trend. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at Dr. J.P. Cleary Elementary School has showed little movement, going from 326 students in 2018 to 320 in 2025. Black enrollment moved from 20% to 10% across the same window.

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