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What advice would you give to incoming students at William J. McGinn Elementary School?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
543
Elementary
DISTRICT 475 · STATE 405
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·SCOTCH PLAINS-FANWOOD SCHOOL DISTRICT·NCES 341467005692
William J. McGinn Elementary School
1100 ROOSEVELT AVENUE, SCOTCH PLAINS, NJ 07076 · (908) 233-7950 · Union County
GRADES KG–04ELEMENTARY21-SUBURBREGULAR SCHOOL543 STUDENTS
A
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 87% of New Jersey public elementary schools
- ATest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- B+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
12.8:1
42 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 12.4:1 · STATE 11.4:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
1%
6 students
DISTRICT 4% · 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 | 101 | 19% |
| Grade 1 | 120 | 22% |
| Grade 2 | 106 | 20% |
| Grade 3 | 120 | 22% |
| Grade 4 | 96 | 18% |
This year's kindergarten class (101) is 5% larger than its 4th grade class (96).
Student demographics
52%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 59% · 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
72.6%
NJ avg 53.1% . +0.6pp since 2023
Math
76.1%
NJ avg 41.6% . +2.7pp since 2023
What this means: On the NJSLA, New Jersey's statewide test, about 73 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 76 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 up about 3 points.
NJSLA results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 72.6% | 76.1% |
| 2023-24 | 72.0% | 73.4% |
% 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
73.7%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
65.6%
based on NJ schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+8.1pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 74% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 66% 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 William J. McGinn Elementary School
William J. McGinn Elementary School's state test result (73.7% proficient) is higher than 1 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| William J. McGinn Elementary School this school | 543 | 1.1% | 73.7% |
| J. Ackerman Coles Elementary School SCOTCH PLAINS | 526 | 3.4% | 75.4% |
| Dorchester Elementary School WOODCLIFF LAKE | 494 | 1.4% | 72.8% |
| Ridge Elementary School RIDGEWOOD | 448 | 1.6% | 76.4% |
| Franklin Elementary School Westfield | 509 | 0.6% | 75.2% |
| Ridgewood Avenue School GLEN RIDGE | 540 | 0.6% | 79.6% |
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 William J. McGinn Elementary School ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In New Jersey | In Union County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 73.7% | #102 of 1,290 | #12 of 92 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 76.1% | #143 of 1,319 ▲ 14 | #13 of 93 ▲ 4 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 72.6% | #212 of 1,319 ▼ 1 | #15 of 93 ▲ 2 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 543 | #319 of 1,562 | #36 of 108 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 12.8:1 | #1,050 of 1,390 | #67 of 103 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 51.7% | #758 of 1,392 | #52 of 103 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 1.1% | #1,451 of 1,481 | #100 of 105 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +8.8% | #286 of 545 | #17 of 42 |
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
543
+83 (+18%) vs 2020
+19% since 1990-91, when it was 458
Student : Teacher
12.8:1
was 12.4:1
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 | 543 | 42.5 | 12.8:1 | 1% (6) |
| 2023-24 | 549 | 39.5 | 13.9:1 | 1% (4) |
| 2022-23 | 527 | 40.1 | 13.2:1 | 1% (3) |
| 2020-21 | 460 | 37 | 12.4:1 | 1% (3) |
| 2017-18 | 499 | 38.3 | 13.1:1 | 4% (20) |
| 2015-16 | 495 | 41 | 12.1:1 | 5% (27) |
| 2010-11 | 480 | 29 | 16.6:1 | 2% (8) |
| 2000-01 | 544 | 31 | 17.6:1 | 1% (5) |
| 1990-91 | 458 | 29 | 15.8:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for William J. McGinn Elementary School.
Since 2017-18: students up 9% (499 to 543); teachers up 11% (38.3 to 42.5).
About William J. McGinn Elementary School
William J. McGinn Elementary School is classified as an elementary school. It is located in SCOTCH PLAINS, New Jersey. A total of 543 students attend the school, which covers kindergarten through 4. Against the 405-student average for elementary schools in New Jersey, enrollment here is 34% higher.
The district, Scotch Plains-Fanwood School District, has 5,673 students enrolled across 8 schools.
Roughly 67% of students at William J. McGinn Elementary School are White. Beyond that, enrollment is 12% Asian, 12% Hispanic, 7% multiracial, and 2% Black. The White share of the county population is lower, at 39%. Pick two students at random and there is a 52% chance they belong to different racial or ethnic groups; that figure is the school's diversity index.
At William J. McGinn Elementary School, 42.5 full-time-equivalent teachers work with students, a ratio of about 12.8:1. On average, elementary schools in New Jersey have 11.4:1, compared with 12.8:1 here. Students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch make up 1% of enrollment. The 52% average for public schools in Union County is 51 points higher.
William J. McGinn Elementary School is graded A by allk12, scoring above 87% of New Jersey public elementary schools once test results, poverty-adjusted performance, and the recent trend are combined.
Compared with New Jersey schools that have similar shares of low-income students, William J. McGinn Elementary School's results are 8.1 points above predicted: 73.7% against 65.6%.
In Union County (population about 579,290), the median household income is $103,202, the share of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher is 39%, and roughly 7% of residents are in poverty. William J. McGinn Elementary School is one of 180 public schools in the county.
The nearest public school is Terrill Middle School, at about 0.8 miles. Around the school, at least 8 other public schools are within five miles. Among the 8 closest schools with test data, this one included, William J. McGinn Elementary School ranks 3rd on average proficiency.
Its NCES locale code is Suburb: Large: the school is in a suburban area outside a principal city, within an urbanized area with a population of 250,000 or more.
Enrollment has grown by 83 students since 2020-21, to 543.
If you have questions about enrollment questions, class placement, and PTA news at William J. McGinn Elementary School, you can post them here. Posting is open to anyone connected to the school.
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 Scotch Plains-Fanwood School District
- Scotch Plains-Fanwood High SchoolHigh · 1,562 students
- Malcolm E Nettingham Middle SchoolMiddle · 913 students
- Terrill Middle SchoolMiddle · 822 students
- J. Ackerman Coles Elementary SchoolElementary · 526 students
- Evergreen Elementary SchoolElementary · 449 students
- Howard B. Brunner Elementary SchoolElementary · 434 students
Other schools in SCOTCH PLAINS
- Scotch Plains-Fanwood High SchoolHigh · 1,562 students
- Malcolm E Nettingham Middle SchoolMiddle · 913 students
- Terrill Middle SchoolMiddle · 822 students
- J. Ackerman Coles Elementary SchoolElementary · 526 students
- Union County TechHigh · 502 students
- Evergreen Elementary SchoolElementary · 449 students
Nearby schools
- Terrill Middle School0.8 mi · 822
- Howard B. Brunner Elementary School0.8 mi · 434
- J. Ackerman Coles Elementary School1.1 mi · 526
- Hillcrest Academy-North1.1 mi · 74
- McKinley Elementary School1.1 mi · 291
- Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School1.1 mi · 1,562
Frequently asked questions
About William J. McGinn Elementary SchoolHow many students attend William J. McGinn Elementary School?
William J. McGinn Elementary School enrolls approximately 543 students in grades KG-04.
Is William J. McGinn Elementary School an elementary, middle, or high school?
William J. McGinn Elementary School is an elementary school covering grades KG-04.
What is the student-teacher ratio at William J. McGinn Elementary School?
The student-to-teacher ratio at William J. McGinn Elementary School is approximately 12.8:1 (42 FTE teachers).
What is the racial breakdown of students at William J. McGinn Elementary School?
At William J. McGinn Elementary School, the student body is approximately 67% White, 12% Hispanic, 2% Black, 12% Asian, 7% Two or more.
What district is William J. McGinn Elementary School in?
William J. McGinn Elementary School is part of Scotch Plains-Fanwood School District.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.