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What's the most underrated thing about Emerson Community School that outsiders don't know?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
414
Elementary
DISTRICT 456 · STATE 405
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·PLAINFIELD PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT·NCES 341314005618
Emerson Community School
305 EMERSON AVE, PLAINFIELD, NJ 07062 · (908) 731-4205 · Union County
GRADES KG–05ELEMENTARY21-SUBURBTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL414 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
11.5:1
36 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 11.8:1 · STATE 11.4:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
73%
301 students
DISTRICT 78% · STATE 41%
Community
1
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other elementary schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Kindergarten | 69 | 17% |
| Grade 1 | 72 | 17% |
| Grade 2 | 70 | 17% |
| Grade 3 | 69 | 17% |
| Grade 4 | 59 | 14% |
| Grade 5 | 75 | 18% |
Student demographics
42%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 30% · STATE 71% · US 70%
Student head counts by race/ethnicity from federal NCES enrollment data. District, state, and US figures are each group's share of all public school students in that area (US excludes territories). Very small groups may be suppressed in the source, so categories do not always sum exactly to total enrollment.
Gender split
Test scores
NJSLA 2024-25 . % Meeting or Exceeding ExpectationsEnglish Language Arts
41.9%
NJ avg 53.1% . +7.9pp since 2023
Math
37.6%
NJ avg 41.6% . +12.8pp since 2023
What this means: On the NJSLA, New Jersey's statewide test, about 42 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 38 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all New Jersey schools, those numbers are about 53 and 42. Reading and writing scores are up about 8 points since 2023, while math scores are up about 13 points.
NJSLA results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 41.9% | 37.6% |
| 2023-24 | 34.0% | 24.8% |
% Meeting or Exceeding Expectations, all students and all tested grades.
Source: NJSLA. All students, all grades. See all years and grades →
BeatsExpectations
Demographically-adjusted score · methodologyTier
AS EXPECTED
Performing as predicted given the school's student profile
Actual proficiency
29.4%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
26.4%
based on NJ schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+3.1pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 29% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 26% typical for New Jersey schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations measures results against demographically similar schools rather than by raw scores, and this school falls within the typical range, neither among New Jersey's top nor bottom 10%.
BeatsExpectations runs a per-state regression of proficiency on free/reduced-lunch share, then scores each school by residual. How this is calculated →
Where Emerson Community School ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In New Jersey | In Union County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 29.4% | #971 of 1,290 | #54 of 92 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 37.6% | #846 of 1,319 | #40 of 93 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 41.9% | #887 of 1,319 | #55 of 93 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 414 | #655 of 1,562 | #54 of 108 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 11.5:1 | #744 of 1,390 | #32 of 103 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 42.4% | #993 of 1,392 | #73 of 103 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -12.1% | #349 of 798 | #14 of 58 |
Ranked against other public elementary schools. Online schools are left out of every list, and test-score lists leave out schools that serve specialized populations. Each rank links to the full list.
7-year change
SY 2017-18 vs SY 2024-25Enrollment
414
-57 (-12%) vs 2017
Student : Teacher
11.5:1
was 12.9:1
% White
1%
was 1%
% Hispanic
72%
was 56%
% Black
25%
was 42%
% Asian
0%
was 0%
Source: NCES Common Core of Data
Enrollment and staffing by year
| School year | Students | Teachers (FTE) | Students per teacher | Free or reduced lunch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 414 | 36 | 11.5:1 | 73% (301) |
| 2023-24 | 424 | 34 | 12.5:1 | 75% (316) |
| 2022-23 | 509 | 35 | 14.5:1 | 79% (402) |
| 2017-18 | 471 | 36.5 | 12.9:1 | 81% (380) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Emerson Community School.
About Emerson Community School
Among the schools in PLAINFIELD, New Jersey, is Emerson Community School, a mid-sized elementary school. The school runs kindergarten through 5 and enrolls 414 students.
The Plainfield Public School District system has 15 schools and 8,522 students.
The share of Hispanic students at Emerson Community School is 72%, a majority. It is also 25% Black. For comparison, the population of Union County is roughly 35% Hispanic. Its diversity index, the chance that two randomly chosen students belong to different racial or ethnic groups, is 42%.
For every teacher at Emerson Community School, there are about 11.5 students; the school has 36 full-time-equivalent teachers. It is about the same as the 11.4:1 average for elementary schools in New Jersey. There are 301 students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, 73% of enrollment. The average for public schools in Union County is 52%.
A school with Emerson Community School's lunch-eligibility share in New Jersey is predicted to score 26.4%. Emerson Community School scores 29.4%, 3.1 points above that line.
The school's county is Union County. According to Census Bureau estimates, the median household earns about $103,202 a year, a bachelor's degree or higher is held by about 39% of adults, and the share of residents below the poverty line is 7%. Public schools in Union County number 180, with about 99,046 students.
The closest school to Emerson Community School is College Achieve Central Charter School, located about 0.1 miles away. Emerson Community School is one of several public schools in the area, with at least 8 others within five miles. Ranking the closest schools with test data puts Emerson Community School at 4th of 8.
On the NCES locale scale, the school is Suburb: Large.
Enrollment figures show a decline of 57 students from 2017-18 to 2024-25. Meanwhile, the Black share shrank from 42% to 25% of enrollment. The school's ratio dropped from 12.9:1 to 11.5:1 between 2017-18 and 2024-25.
You can use this page to share news and ask questions about athletics, class schedules, and weather closures. Current and former families are welcome to add their experience.
Union County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
579,290
Census ACS
Median income
$103,202
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
39%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
7%
Below federal line
Schools in county
180
99,046 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Plainfield Public School District
- Plainfield High SchoolHigh · 2,077 students
- Charles and Anna Booker Elementary SchoolElementary · 816 students
- Hubbard Middle SchoolMiddle · 737 students
- Maxson Middle SchoolMiddle · 721 students
- Cedarbrook Elementary SchoolElementary · 671 students
- Washington Community SchoolElementary · 557 students
Other schools in PLAINFIELD
- Plainfield High SchoolHigh · 2,077 students
- College Achieve Central Charter SchoolCombined · 1,572 students
- Charles and Anna Booker Elementary SchoolElementary · 816 students
- Hubbard Middle SchoolMiddle · 737 students
- Maxson Middle SchoolMiddle · 721 students
- Cedarbrook Elementary SchoolElementary · 671 students
Nearby schools
- College Achieve Central Charter School0.1 mi · 1,572
- Dewitt D. Barlow Elementary School0.5 mi · 423
- Maxson Middle School0.6 mi · 721
- Pinnacle Academy High School0.6 mi · 67
- Frederic W. Cook Elementary School0.7 mi · 198
- Charles and Anna Booker Elementary School0.7 mi · 816
Frequently asked questions
About Emerson Community SchoolWhat is the total enrollment at Emerson Community School?
Emerson Community School enrolls approximately 414 students in grades KG-05.
What age range does Emerson Community School serve?
Emerson Community School serves students from grade KG through grade 05.
How many students per teacher at Emerson Community School?
Approximately 11.5:1 students per teacher at Emerson Community School.
What is the student diversity at Emerson Community School?
Student demographics at Emerson Community School are roughly 1% White, 72% Hispanic, 25% Black, 0% Asian, 1% Two or more.
What district is Emerson Community School in?
Emerson Community School is part of Plainfield Public School District.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.