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Teachers: what resource would make the biggest difference at Herma S. Simmons Elementary School this year?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
715
Elementary
DISTRICT 482 · STATE 405
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·CLAYTON PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT·NCES 340318002500
Herma S. Simmons Elementary School
300 WEST CHESTNUT STREET, CLAYTON, NJ 08312 · (856) 881-8704 · Gloucester County
GRADES PK–05ELEMENTARY21-SUBURBTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL715 STUDENTS
C-
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 23% of New Jersey public elementary schools
- CTest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- CBeats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- ·Three-year trend Not available for this school, so the grade uses the other parts.
Grades compare a school only with schools in the same state, because every state gives its own test. How grades work · Top-graded New Jersey public elementary schools
Student : Teacher
12.4:1
58 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 11.4:1 · STATE 11.4:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
58%
413 students
DISTRICT 59% · 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-K | 134 | 19% |
| Kindergarten | 94 | 13% |
| Grade 1 | 112 | 16% |
| Grade 2 | 89 | 12% |
| Grade 3 | 83 | 12% |
| Grade 4 | 109 | 15% |
| Grade 5 | 94 | 13% |
This year's kindergarten class (94) is about the same size as its 5th grade class (94).
Student demographics
69%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 69% · 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
School pathway
Students here typically continue to
Based on grade levels within Clayton Public School District. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
NJSLA 2024-25 . % Meeting or Exceeding ExpectationsEnglish Language Arts
37.8%
NJ avg 53.1% . +0.5pp since 2023
Math
25.2%
NJ avg 41.6% . -1.3pp since 2023
What this means: On the NJSLA, New Jersey's statewide test, about 38 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 25 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all New Jersey schools, those numbers are about 53 and 42. Reading and writing scores have held steady since 2023, while math scores are down about 1 points.
NJSLA results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 37.8% | 25.2% |
| 2023-24 | 37.3% | 26.5% |
% 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
31.4%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
34.5%
based on NJ schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-3.2pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 31% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 35% 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 →
Schools most like Herma S. Simmons Elementary School
Herma S. Simmons Elementary School's state test result (31.4% proficient) is higher than 1 of the 4 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Herma S. Simmons Elementary School this school | 715 | 57.8% | 31.4% |
| John M. Bailey Community School BAYONNE | 640 | 63.6% | 46.5% |
| Middle Township Elementary #1 CAPE MAY COURT HOUSE | 688 | 61.0% | N/A |
| Roland Rogers Elementary School GALLOWAY | 578 | 61.2% | 31.6% |
| Maude M. Wilkins Elementary School MAPLE SHADE | 554 | 57.4% | 23.9% |
| Henry E. Harris Community School BAYONNE | 657 | 62.9% | 33.8% |
Matched among New Jersey elementary schools on enrollment, the share of students from low-income families (eligible for free or reduced-price lunch), and racial and ethnic makeup. Proficient is the average share of students meeting the state standard across all of the school's state tests in 2023-24 and 2024-25, the same combined score our test-score rankings use. Online schools and schools serving specialized populations are not matched.
Where Herma S. Simmons Elementary School ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In New Jersey | In Gloucester County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 31.4% | #940 of 1,290 | #28 of 35 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 25.2% | #1,063 of 1,319 ▼ 70 | #34 of 35 ▼ 3 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 37.8% | #976 of 1,319 ▼ 39 | #27 of 35 ▼ 1 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 715 | #104 of 1,562 | #2 of 48 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 12.4:1 | #970 of 1,390 | #36 of 45 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 68.9% | #190 of 1,392 | #8 of 45 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 57.8% | #485 of 1,481 | #7 of 48 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +7.2% | #321 of 545 | #12 of 22 |
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. Arrows under a test-score rank show places moved since the prior test year, among schools tested both years.
4-year change
SY 2020-21 vs SY 2024-25Enrollment
715
+47 (+7%) vs 2020
+5% since 1990-91, when it was 684
Student : Teacher
12.4:1
was 11.9:1
Source: NCES Common Core of Data
Enrollment and staffing by year
| School year | Students | Teachers (FTE) | Students per teacher | Free and reduced lunch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 715 | 57.8 | 12.4:1 | 58% (413) |
| 2023-24 | 685 | 69 | 9.9:1 | 46% (318) |
| 2022-23 | 671 | 62 | 10.8:1 | 45% (300) |
| 2020-21 | 668 | 56 | 11.9:1 | 43% (285) |
| 2017-18 | 667 | 54.5 | 12.2:1 | 44% (295) |
| 2015-16 | 736 | 57 | 12.9:1 | 50% (370) |
| 2010-11 | 793 | 52 | 15.3:1 | 49% (388) |
| 2000-01 | 701 | 45 | 15.6:1 | 41% (287) |
| 1990-91 | 684 | 42 | 16.3:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Herma S. Simmons Elementary School.
Since 2017-18: students up 7% (667 to 715); teachers up 6% (54.5 to 57.8).
About Herma S. Simmons Elementary School
Families in CLAYTON, New Jersey, are served by Herma S. Simmons Elementary School, a large elementary school. Its grade span covers pre-K through 5, with 715 students on the rolls. Elementary schools in New Jersey average about 405 students, which makes this school 77% bigger than average.
Clayton Public School District serves 1,445 students across 3 schools.
White students account for 45% of enrollment at Herma S. Simmons Elementary School, more than any other group. The remaining students are 24% Black, 20% Hispanic, and 10% multiracial. Among people living in Gloucester County, the White share is about 76%. On the diversity index, which measures the chance that two random students are from different groups, Herma S. Simmons Elementary School scores 69%.
With 57.8 full-time-equivalent teachers, the student-to-teacher ratio is about 12.4:1. Statewide, elementary schools in New Jersey average 11.4:1. Roughly 58% of students come from households that qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. For comparison, public schools in Gloucester County average 32%.
On the allk12 Grade, Herma S. Simmons Elementary School lands at C-, ahead of 23% of New Jersey public elementary schools.
After adjusting for student poverty, Herma S. Simmons Elementary School lands between the top and bottom 10% of New Jersey schools. Its average proficiency rate across its state test results is 31.4%; the prediction is 34.5%.
Looking at the county, Gloucester County, the median household earns about $105,115 a year, 37% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and about 5% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Counting Herma S. Simmons Elementary School, Gloucester County has 86 public schools.
Among nearby public schools, Clayton Middle School is closest at about 1.1 miles. Herma S. Simmons Elementary School is one of several public schools in the area, with at least 8 others within five miles. Nearby schools with test data average 33.8% proficiency; Herma S. Simmons Elementary School posts 31.4%.
The school's locale code, Suburb: Large, means it is in a suburban area outside a principal city, within an urbanized area with a population of 250,000 or more.
Enrollment was 715 in 2024-25. In 2020-21, it was 668.
On allk12, people connected to Herma S. Simmons Elementary School can post about pickup and drop-off, after-school programs, and teacher feedback. Current and former families are welcome to add their experience.
Gloucester County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
306,954
Census ACS
Median income
$105,115
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
37%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
5%
Below federal line
Schools in county
86
46,080 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Clayton Public School District
- Clayton High SchoolHigh · 431 students
- Clayton Middle SchoolMiddle · 299 students
Other schools in CLAYTON
- Clayton High SchoolHigh · 431 students
- Clayton Middle SchoolMiddle · 299 students
Nearby schools
- Clayton Middle School1.1 mi · 299
- Clayton High School1.1 mi · 431
- Aura Elementary School2.9 mi · 350
- Caroline L. Reutter School3.1 mi · 388
- Delsea Regional High School3.4 mi · 1,048
- Delsea Regional Middle School3.4 mi · 510
Frequently asked questions
About Herma S. Simmons Elementary SchoolHow many students attend Herma S. Simmons Elementary School?
Herma S. Simmons Elementary School enrolls approximately 715 students in grades PK-05.
What grades does Herma S. Simmons Elementary School serve?
Herma S. Simmons Elementary School serves grades PK-05.
How many students per teacher at Herma S. Simmons Elementary School?
Approximately 12.4:1 students per teacher at Herma S. Simmons Elementary School.
What is the student diversity at Herma S. Simmons Elementary School?
Student demographics at Herma S. Simmons Elementary School are roughly 45% White, 20% Hispanic, 24% Black, 1% Asian, 10% Two or more.
What district is Herma S. Simmons Elementary School in?
Herma S. Simmons Elementary School is part of Clayton Public School District.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.