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What's the best and worst thing about the food at Joseph A. Citta Elementary School?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
511
Elementary
DISTRICT 528 · STATE 405
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·TOMS RIVER REGIONAL SCHOOL DISTRICT·NCES 341623000345
Joseph A. Citta Elementary School
2050 LAKEWOOD ROAD, TOMS RIVER, NJ 08755 · (732) 818-8550 · Ocean County
GRADES PK–05ELEMENTARY21-SUBURBTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL511 STUDENTS
C-
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 19% of New Jersey public elementary schools
- C-Test scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- C+Beats 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
13.5:1
38 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 13.7:1 · STATE 11.4:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
74%
377 students
DISTRICT 47% · 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 | 89 | 17% |
| Kindergarten | 50 | 10% |
| Grade 1 | 65 | 13% |
| Grade 2 | 72 | 14% |
| Grade 3 | 72 | 14% |
| Grade 4 | 78 | 15% |
| Grade 5 | 85 | 17% |
This year's kindergarten class (50) is 41% smaller than its 5th grade class (85).
Student demographics
66%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 58% · 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
33.2%
NJ avg 53.1% . +3.1pp since 2023
Math
21.7%
NJ avg 41.6% . -3.7pp since 2023
What this means: On the NJSLA, New Jersey's statewide test, about 33 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 22 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 3 points since 2023, while math scores are down about 4 points.
NJSLA results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 33.2% | 21.7% |
| 2023-24 | 30.1% | 25.4% |
% 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
24.0%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
25.8%
based on NJ schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-1.8pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 24% 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 →
Schools most like Joseph A. Citta Elementary School
Joseph A. Citta Elementary School's state test result (24.0% proficient) is higher than 1 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Joseph A. Citta Elementary School this school | 511 | 73.8% | 24.0% |
| South River Elementary School SOUTH RIVER | 496 | 71.0% | 30.4% |
| Dr. William Mennies Elementary School VINELAND | 558 | 73.5% | 19.3% |
| Julia A. Barnes School JERSEY CITY | 433 | 70.7% | 28.6% |
| Solve D'Ippolito Elementary School VINELAND | 504 | 68.7% | 36.3% |
| Benjamin Franklin Elementary School PENNSAUKEN | 418 | 69.1% | 26.5% |
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 Joseph A. Citta Elementary School ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In New Jersey | In Ocean County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 24.0% | #1,067 of 1,290 | #49 of 51 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 21.7% | #1,125 of 1,319 ▼ 113 | #49 of 52 ▼ 2 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 33.2% | #1,055 of 1,319 ▲ 7 | #41 of 52 ▲ 6 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 511 | #383 of 1,562 | #27 of 70 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 13.5:1 | #1,176 of 1,390 | #46 of 59 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 65.6% | #294 of 1,392 | #5 of 59 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 73.8% | #301 of 1,481 | #8 of 67 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -16.6% | #238 of 798 | #10 of 30 |
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
511
+71 (+16%) vs 2020
-25% since 2000-01, when it was 678
Student : Teacher
13.5:1
was 12.2:1
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 | 511 | 37.8 | 13.5:1 | 74% (377) |
| 2023-24 | 522 | 37.8 | 13.8:1 | 68% (353) |
| 2022-23 | 483 | 40.8 | 11.8:1 | 61% (294) |
| 2020-21 | 440 | 36 | 12.2:1 | 49% (216) |
| 2017-18 | 613 | 45.8 | 13.4:1 | 40% (248) |
| 2015-16 | 632 | 42 | 15.1:1 | 36% (227) |
| 2010-11 | 670 | 38 | 17.6:1 | 20% (136) |
| 2000-01 | 678 | 37 | 18.3:1 | 14% (97) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Joseph A. Citta Elementary School.
Since 2017-18: students down 17% (613 to 511); teachers down 17% (45.8 to 37.8).
About Joseph A. Citta Elementary School
Joseph A. Citta Elementary School is listed by the National Center for Education Statistics as an elementary school in TOMS RIVER, New Jersey. Enrollment stands at 511 students, covering pre-K through 5. That is 26% bigger than the average of about 405 students for elementary schools in New Jersey.
Joseph A. Citta Elementary School is a school in Toms River Regional School District. The district has 18 schools and 14,323 students.
The student body at Joseph A. Citta Elementary School has no majority group. Hispanic students lead at 49%. Other groups make up 28% White, 14% Black, 5% multiracial, and 3% Asian. Ocean County as a whole is about 11% Hispanic, so the school's share is higher. A diversity index of 66% means there is a 66% chance two randomly chosen students at Joseph A. Citta Elementary School are from different groups.
The school lists 37.8 full-time-equivalent teachers and a student-to-teacher ratio of 13.5:1. The average for elementary schools in New Jersey, 11.4:1, is lower. A total of 377 students, or 74%, are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. It compares with 44% for public schools in Ocean County.
Joseph A. Citta Elementary School holds a C- allk12 Grade, placing it above 19% of New Jersey public elementary schools.
After adjusting for student poverty, Joseph A. Citta Elementary School lands between the top and bottom 10% of New Jersey schools. Its average proficiency rate across its state test results is 24.0%; the prediction is 25.8%.
In Ocean County, where the school is located, median household income comes to about $89,863, the share of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher is 34%, and about 7% of people live in poverty. There are 117 public schools in the county, enrolling about 66,051, Joseph A. Citta Elementary School among them.
North Dover Elementary School is about 1.7 miles from Joseph A. Citta Elementary School, the shortest distance to any other public school. Counting only straight-line distance, at least 8 other public schools are within five miles. On state test proficiency, Joseph A. Citta Elementary School ranks 8th in a group of 8 nearby schools.
The NCES locale for Joseph A. Citta Elementary School is Suburb: Large, which covers schools in a suburban area outside a principal city, within an urbanized area with a population of 250,000 or more.
A 16% rise took enrollment from 440 in 2020-21 to 511 in 2024-25. In 2020-21, the student-to-teacher ratio was 12.2:1; by 2024-25 it was 13.5:1.
Use the discussion section to ask about open houses, carpools, and field trips at Joseph A. Citta Elementary School. Current and former families are welcome to add their experience.
Ocean County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
654,362
Census ACS
Median income
$89,863
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
34%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
7%
Below federal line
Schools in county
117
66,051 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Toms River Regional School District
- Toms River High School NorthHigh · 1,861 students
- Toms River High School SouthHigh · 1,463 students
- Toms River High School EastHigh · 1,377 students
- Toms River Intermediate School EastMiddle · 1,271 students
- Toms River Intermediate School SouthMiddle · 1,044 students
- Toms River Intermediate School NorthMiddle · 970 students
Other schools in TOMS RIVER
- Toms River High School NorthHigh · 1,861 students
- Toms River High School SouthHigh · 1,463 students
- Toms River High School EastHigh · 1,377 students
- Toms River Intermediate School EastMiddle · 1,271 students
- Toms River Intermediate School NorthMiddle · 970 students
- Cedar Grove Elementary SchoolElementary · 931 students
Nearby schools
- North Dover Elementary School1.7 mi · 384
- Ocean Academy Charter School1.7 mi · 551
- Manchester Township Middle School2.1 mi · 586
- Ridgeway Elementary School2.2 mi · 476
- Toms River Intermediate School North2.7 mi · 970
- Oak Street Elem School2.9 mi · 513
Frequently asked questions
About Joseph A. Citta Elementary SchoolHow many students attend Joseph A. Citta Elementary School?
Joseph A. Citta Elementary School enrolls approximately 511 students in grades PK-05.
Is Joseph A. Citta Elementary School an elementary, middle, or high school?
Joseph A. Citta Elementary School is an elementary school covering grades PK-05.
How many students per teacher at Joseph A. Citta Elementary School?
Approximately 13.5:1 students per teacher at Joseph A. Citta Elementary School.
What is the racial breakdown of students at Joseph A. Citta Elementary School?
At Joseph A. Citta Elementary School, the student body is approximately 28% White, 49% Hispanic, 14% Black, 3% Asian, 5% Two or more.
Is Joseph A. Citta Elementary School public or private?
Joseph A. Citta Elementary School is a public K-12 school, overseen by Toms River Regional School District.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.