Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
What this means: On the NJSLA, New Jersey's statewide test, about 40 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 15 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 6 points since 2023, while math scores are up about 3 points.
What this means: About 21% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 15% 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%.
Located at 199 Paul Robeson Blvd, in NEW BRUNSWICK, New Jersey, Paul Robeson Community School for the Arts is a sprawling elementary school that hosts 624 students (grades pre-K through 8), part of New Brunswick School District. Compared to the state average of about 405 students per school, that is 54% bigger than typical.
New Brunswick School District comprises 13 schools with combined enrollment of 8,337 students; Paul Robeson Community School for the Arts is among them.
On demographics, Paul Robeson Community School for the Arts records that nearly all students (94%) are Hispanic. Other groups include 5% Black. The wider county runs roughly 24% Hispanic, putting the school's mix considerably more Hispanic than the area baseline.
Looking at the economic backdrop, Staff filings list 67 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to roughly 9.3:1 students per teacher. The state averages around 11.4:1, so this campus is tighter than the state norm typical. About 93% of enrolled students meet the income threshold for free or reduced-price lunch, a number frequently used as a low-income enrollment indicator. Set against Middlesex County (around 42%), the school's rate is somewhat above typical.
Adjusting for the school's free-and-reduced-lunch share, Paul Robeson Community School for the Arts tracks the demographic baseline. The model predicts 15.0% given the school's FRL share; actual proficiency is 21.5%.
In the surrounding community, ACS estimates for Middlesex County put median household earnings sit near $111,549, roughly 46% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and roughly 6% of residents live below the federal poverty line. In all, Middlesex County runs 214 public schools (combined enrollment of about 129,255 students), of which Paul Robeson Community School for the Arts is one.
Nearest neighbor: A Chester Redshaw School, around 0.4 miles off. Counting just inside five miles, 8 other public schools cluster around Paul Robeson Community School for the Arts. Among the 8 schools in that immediate cluster with test data (this one included), Paul Robeson Community School for the Arts ranks 4th on composite proficiency, above the local average of 19.6%.
The campus sits in a high-density setting.
Looking at the recent track record. Over the past 7-year window, the student count edged up 8%: 580 students in 2018 compared to 624 in 2025. Class-load math has fell: from 12.2:1 in 2018 to 9.3:1 in 2025.
In the discussion threads here, posts here usually surface around sports schedules, lunch menu changes, and school spirit week. Posting is open to anyone connected to the school.
