Washington Community School

Summary:

Washington Community School is an elementary school in Plainfield Public School District, serving 649 students from pre-kindergarten to 5th grade. The school consistently ranks in the bottom 10% of Washington Community School has struggled with low academic performance, with proficiency rates well below state averages on standardized tests.

The school faces significant challenges, including a high percentage of students from low-income families (81.2% qualify for free or reduced-price lunch) and high chronic absenteeism rates (ranging from 16.6% to 28.7%). While the school's per-student spending is higher than the state average, and the student-teacher ratio is relatively low, these resources have not translated into improved academic outcomes. Nearby schools in the Plainfield Public School District, such as Charles H. Stillman Elementary School and Cedarbrook Elementary School, also perform poorly on state assessments and have similar demographic and socioeconomic profiles.

However, some nearby schools in other districts, such as Franklin Elementary School in South Plainfield and West End School in North Plainfield, demonstrate significantly higher academic performance, despite serving student populations with similar socioeconomic backgrounds. Addressing the root causes of Washington Community School's low performance, such as chronic absenteeism and ineffective resource allocation, will be crucial for improving student outcomes and providing a high-quality education for the community.


Detail:

Public PK, KG-5

 427 Darrow Ave
       Plainfield, NJ  07060-2012


(908) 731-4230

District: Plainfield Public School District

SchoolDigger Rank:
1223rd of 1,338 New Jersey Elementary Schools

Per Pupil Expenditures:  $10,327 Help


Students who attend Washington Community School usually attend:

Middle:    Hubbard Middle School
High:    Plainfield Academy For The Arts & Advanced Studies
    Plainfield High School

Student/teacher ratio:  13.8 Help
Number of students:  540

Racial breakdown:

Hispanic:
91.3%
African American:
7.8%
White:
0.4%
more

Free/discounted lunch recipients:  84.4% Help


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Performance Trends
Help
Compare Details Washington Community School ranks worse than 91.4% of elementary schools in New Jersey. It also ranks 8th among 9 ranked elementary schools in the Plainfield Public School District. (See more...)
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Compare Details In 2024 the calculated Average Standard Score was 10.89. (See more...)
Help
Chronic absenteeism in a school refers to a situation where students repeatedly miss school, with the threshold often defined as missing 10% or more of school days for any reason, excused or unexcused.
Student Body
Help
Compare Details Racial makeup is: Hispanic (91.3%), African American (7.8%), Pacific Islander (0.4%). (See more...)
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Compare Details 84.4% of students are receiving a free or discounted lunch. (See more...)
Teachers
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Compare Details The student/teacher ratio at Washington Community School is 13.8. 5 elementary schools in the Plainfield Public School District have better student/teacher ratios. (See more...)
Help
Compare Washington Community School employs 39 full-time teachers.
Finance
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Compare Details The average total spent per student at Washington Community School is $10,327. 4 elementary schools in the Plainfield Public School District spend more per student.
Schooldigger 2024 Rankings:

Washington Community School:

SchoolDigger ranks Washington Community School 1223rd of 1338 New Jersey public elementary schools. (See Washington Community School in the ranking list.)

Elementary School Test Score Ratings by Student Subgroup:


English Language Learner students:
Special Education students:
Low Socio Economic Status students:
Female students:
Male students:
African American students:
Hispanic students:


Plainfield Public School District:

SchoolDigger ranks Plainfield Public School District 569th of 613 New Jersey school districts. (See district ranking list.)


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Rank History for Washington Community School

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Compare

Rank History for all students at Washington Community School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools NJ State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2003 2.06 1156th 1204 4.0%
2004 1.04 1276th 1298 1.7%
2005 1.02 1283rd 1303 1.5%
2006 0.48 1299th 1314 1.1%
2007 4.85 1273rd 1329 4.2%
2008 3.19 1293rd 1338 3.4%
2009 5.40 1275th 1346 5.3%
2010 5.91 1273rd 1354 6.0%
2011 5.68 1283rd 1360 5.7%
2012 5.29 1288th 1363 5.5%
2013 14.49 1204th 1367 11.9%
2014 20.75 1143rd 1363 16.1%
2015 21.35 1090th 1357 19.7%
2016 12.67 1193rd 1346 11.4%
2017 10.34 1220th 1352 9.8%
2018 9.87 1232nd 1353 8.9%
2019 7.52 1274th 1360 6.3%
2022 9.29 1260th 1345 6.3%
2023 10.17 1242nd 1342 7.5%
2024 10.89 1223rd 1338 8.6%
See the entire list of New Jersey Elementary School Rankings!

Rank History for English Language Learner students at Washington Community School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools NJ State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 32.49 293rd 434 32.5%
2019 27.24 341st 463 26.3%
2022 25.07 385th 489 21.3%
2023 26.08 390th 499 21.8%
2024 32.37 375th 559 32.9%
See the entire list of Best New Jersey Elementary Schools for English Language Learner Students!

Rank History for Special Education students at Washington Community School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools NJ State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 18.41 818th 1001 18.3%
2019 19.18 810th 1007 19.6%
2022 19.68 775th 949 18.3%
2023 20.97 750th 958 21.7%
2024 18.05 833rd 989 15.8%
See the entire list of Best New Jersey Elementary Schools for Special Education Students!

Rank History for Low Socio Economic Status students at Washington Community School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools NJ State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 24.50 794th 942 15.7%
2019 24.83 715th 948 24.6%
2022 23.12 679th 863 21.3%
2023 27.19 674th 910 25.9%
2024 25.66 728th 939 22.5%
See the entire list of Best New Jersey Elementary Schools for Low Socio Economic Status Students!

Rank History for Female students at Washington Community School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools NJ State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 11.99 1178th 1333 11.6%
2019 10.76 1195th 1331 10.2%
2022 9.44 1223rd 1326 7.8%
2023 8.68 1221st 1318 7.4%
2024 11.26 1172nd 1317 11.0%
See the entire list of Best New Jersey Elementary Schools for Female Students!

Rank History for Male students at Washington Community School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools NJ State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 9.66 1219th 1334 8.6%
2019 6.89 1252nd 1335 6.2%
2022 10.92 1196th 1324 9.7%
2023 14.57 1126th 1315 14.4%
2024 13.07 1150th 1313 12.4%
See the entire list of Best New Jersey Elementary Schools for Male Students!

Rank History for African American students at Washington Community School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools NJ State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 17.81 422nd 517 18.4%
2019 29.54 404th 522 22.6%
2022 9.53 491st 494 0.6%
2023 43.13 253rd 463 45.4%
2024 51.28 202nd 469 56.9%
See the entire list of Best New Jersey Elementary Schools for African American Students!

Rank History for Hispanic students at Washington Community School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools NJ State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 22.15 683rd 870 21.5%
2019 18.77 730th 899 18.8%
2022 18.09 805th 953 15.5%
2023 19.71 818th 982 16.7%
2024 16.95 852nd 989 13.9%
See the entire list of Best New Jersey Elementary Schools for Hispanic Students!

Data source: test scores: New Jersey Department of Education, rankings: SchoolDigger.com

As you review the school rankings data, please be aware that some of the information from certain demographics is missing. The reason for this omission is that the data has been redacted from the source data itself due to low population samples in these specific demographic groups.

Redacting data from low population samples is a necessary step to ensure the reliability and accuracy of the results, as small sample sizes may not be representative of the broader population. Additionally, this measure helps protect the privacy of individuals belonging to these demographic groups.

Washington Community School Test Scores
Tests: 
  
Grades: 
  
Years: 
  
Group by: 
District Scores:
State Scores:    
  
Subgroup: 





Data source: New Jersey Department of Education

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Enrollment information for Washington Community School

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Compare
Year White African American Asian Hispanic American Indian Pacific Islander Two or More Races Not Specified Total
1988 4 368 0 91 1 n/a n/a 0 464
1989 2 416 0 86 0 n/a n/a 0 504
1990 1 378 2 91 0 n/a n/a 0 472
1991 0 384 2 91 0 n/a n/a 0 477
1992 1 361 1 83 0 n/a n/a 0 446
1993 0 365 1 76 0 n/a n/a 0 442
1994 0 365 1 69 0 n/a n/a 0 435
1995 0 391 0 99 0 n/a n/a 0 490
1996 0 391 0 99 0 n/a n/a 0 490
1998 1 339 0 100 0 n/a n/a 0 440
1999 0 290 0 128 1 n/a n/a 0 419
2000 0 302 0 161 0 n/a n/a 0 463
2001 0 297 0 203 0 n/a n/a 0 500
2002 0 368 2 243 0 n/a n/a 0 613
2003 0 368 2 243 0 n/a n/a 0 613
2004 0 353 1 246 1 n/a n/a 0 601
2005 0 282 3 255 1 n/a n/a 0 541
2006 1 248 5 212 0 n/a n/a 0 466
2007 4 187 1 231 2 n/a n/a 0 425
2008 2 203 1 275 0 n/a n/a 0 481
2009 3 192 1 276 0 0 0 0 472
2010 3 186 2 334 0 0 5 0 530
2011 3 189 2 370 0 0 1 0 565
2012 4 179 2 399 0 0 1 0 585
2013 5 142 3 385 0 0 0 0 535
2014 6 160 3 431 2 0 0 0 602
2015 6 152 5 487 1 0 0 0 651
2016 2 145 4 502 1 0 0 0 654
2017 3 115 0 499 1 1 0 0 619
2018 4 102 1 479 1 1 0 0 588
2019 2 89 1 481 2 1 0 0 576
2020 3 86 3 538 2 1 0 0 633
2021 1 82 1 612 0 1 0 0 697
2022 2 59 2 595 0 1 1 0 660
2023 4 53 2 588 0 1 1 0 649
2024 2 42 0 493 0 2 1 0 540

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Enrollment/Ethnicity

For more information about how the Department of Education defines ethnicity, see Defining Race and Ethnicity Data, National Center for Education Statistics

Students eligible for free or discounted lunch at Washington Community School

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Compare
Year # Students Full-time Teachers Student/Teacher ratio % Free/Discounted Lunch
1988 464 25.0 18.5 n/a
1989 504 30.0 16.8 n/a
1990 472 30.0 15.7 60.8
1991 477 29.0 16.4 62.7
1992 446 30.0 14.8 74.7
1993 442 31.0 14.3 72.9
1994 435 32.0 13.6 74.7
1995 490 31.0 15.8 81.2
1996 490 31.0 15.8 81.2
1998 440 30.0 14.7 78.2
1999 419 29.0 14.4 74.5
2000 463 29.0 16.0 69.3
2001 500 29.3 17.1 84.2
2002 613 54.0 11.4 89.7
2003 613 54.0 11.4 89.7
2004 601 46.0 13.1 89.9
2005 541 47.0 11.5 n/a
2006 466 42.0 11.1 90.1
2007 425 38.0 11.2 91.3
2008 481 35.0 13.7 86.9
2009 472 41.0 10.0 87.3
2010 530 38.0 13.9 83.4
2011 565 39.0 14.4 83.5
2012 585 37.5 15.5 80
2013 535 45.0 11.8 89.9
2014 602 48.0 12.5 95.3
2015 651 50.0 13.0 90.9
2016 654 49.0 13.3 82
2017 619 47.5 13.0 90.6
2018 588 45.5 12.9 90.1
2019 576 48.0 11.9 88.7
2020 633 48.7 12.9 87.8
2021 697 43.5 16.0 77.2
2022 660 40.5 16.2 80.8
2023 649 43.0 15.0 81.2
2024 540 39.0 13.8 84.4

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Students eligible for discounted/free lunch:

The National School Lunch Program (NSLP) provides low-cost or free meals to students in U.S. public and nonprofit private schools based on household income. Those with incomes below 130% of the poverty line receive free lunch, while those between 130% and 185% qualify for reduced-price lunch. The percentage of students receiving free or reduced-price lunch serves as a marker for poverty, as it reflects the socioeconomic status of families in a given school or district. A higher FRPL rate typically indicates a higher concentration of low-income families, suggesting that the school or district may face additional challenges in providing adequate resources and support for student success.

Student/Teacher Ratio Washington Community School

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Compare
Year # Students Full-time Teachers Student/Teacher ratio % Free/Discounted Lunch
1988 464 25.0 18.5 n/a
1989 504 30.0 16.8 n/a
1990 472 30.0 15.7 60.8
1991 477 29.0 16.4 62.7
1992 446 30.0 14.8 74.7
1993 442 31.0 14.3 72.9
1994 435 32.0 13.6 74.7
1995 490 31.0 15.8 81.2
1996 490 31.0 15.8 81.2
1998 440 30.0 14.7 78.2
1999 419 29.0 14.4 74.5
2000 463 29.0 16.0 69.3
2001 500 29.3 17.1 84.2
2002 613 54.0 11.4 89.7
2003 613 54.0 11.4 89.7
2004 601 46.0 13.1 89.9
2005 541 47.0 11.5 n/a
2006 466 42.0 11.1 90.1
2007 425 38.0 11.2 91.3
2008 481 35.0 13.7 86.9
2009 472 41.0 10.0 87.3
2010 530 38.0 13.9 83.4
2011 565 39.0 14.4 83.5
2012 585 37.5 15.5 80
2013 535 45.0 11.8 89.9
2014 602 48.0 12.5 95.3
2015 651 50.0 13.0 90.9
2016 654 49.0 13.3 82
2017 619 47.5 13.0 90.6
2018 588 45.5 12.9 90.1
2019 576 48.0 11.9 88.7
2020 633 48.7 12.9 87.8
2021 697 43.5 16.0 77.2
2022 660 40.5 16.2 80.8
2023 649 43.0 15.0 81.2
2024 540 39.0 13.8 84.4

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Student-Teacher Ratio

Student/teacher ratio is calculated by dividing the total number of students by the total number of full-time equivalent teachers. Please note that a smaller student/teacher ratio does not necessarily translate to smaller class size. In some instances, schools hire teachers part time, and some teachers are hired for specialized instruction with very small class sizes. These and other factors contribute to the student/teacher ratio. Note: For private schools, Student/teacher ratio may not include Pre-Kindergarten.
Finances

Per Pupil Expenditures for Washington Community School

Help

YearExpenditures from Federal FundsExpenditures from State and Local FundsTotal Expenditures Per Pupil (All Funds)
2019 $167 (1.6%) $10,160 (98.4%) $10,327

Data source: New Jersey Department of Education
Pre and Post Pandemic Data

Impact of COVID-19 on Washington Community School

The coronavirus has had a profound impact on education in America. Learning shifted online overnight, attendance numbers dwindled, and enrollment decreased. SchoolDigger.com is making it easier for you to better assess how COVID-19 has impacted your school. Through the collection of pre-pandemic (2019) and current data, SchoolDigger.com is sharing test scores, enrollment numbers and school demographics from schools across the country – and we make it easy to see how impacted schools compare locally and statewide.

Rankings

Rank
Pre-pandemic (2018-2019)
Rank
Post pandemic (2022-2023)
Change (%)
Ranks 1274th of 1360 Elementary schoolsRanks 1242nd of 1342 Elementary schools
 1.1%

Test Scores

% proficient
Pre-pandemic (2018-2019)
% proficient
Post pandemic (2022-2023)
Change (%)
3rd Grade English Language Arts (Washington Community School)14.113
 1.1%
   3rd Grade English Language Arts (Plainfield Public School District)21.417.4
 4%
   3rd Grade English Language Arts (New Jersey)50.242
 8.2%
3rd Grade Mathematics (Washington Community School)28.724.3
 4.4%
   3rd Grade Mathematics (Plainfield Public School District)26.322.2
 4.1%
   3rd Grade Mathematics (New Jersey)55.145.9
 9.2%
4th Grade English Language Arts (Washington Community School)26.616
 10.6%
   4th Grade English Language Arts (Plainfield Public School District)25.720.1
 5.6%
   4th Grade English Language Arts (New Jersey)57.451.3
 6.1%
4th Grade Mathematics (Washington Community School)16.516.4
 0.1%
   4th Grade Mathematics (Plainfield Public School District)18.619.4
 0.8%
   4th Grade Mathematics (New Jersey)5144.3
 6.7%
5th Grade English Language Arts (Washington Community School)17.56.2
 11.3%
   5th Grade English Language Arts (Plainfield Public School District)25.219.7
 5.5%
   5th Grade English Language Arts (New Jersey)57.953.2
 4.7%
5th Grade Mathematics (Washington Community School)23.116.2
 6.9%
   5th Grade Mathematics (Plainfield Public School District)17.111.8
 5.3%
   5th Grade Mathematics (New Jersey)46.840.1
 6.7%

Student Body

Number of students
Pre-pandemic (2018-2019)
Number of students
Post pandemic (2022-2023)
Change (%)
Total Students576649
 12.7%
African American8953
 40.4%
American Indian20
 100%
Asian12
 100%
Hispanic481588
 22.2%
Pacific Islander11
White24
 100%
Two or More Races01
% Free/Discounted Lunch Recipients88.7%81.2%
 7.5%


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Frequently Asked Questions about Washington Community School

Students at Washington Community School are 91% Hispanic, 8% African American.

In the 2023-24 school year, 540 students attended Washington Community School.

Washington Community School ranks in the bottom 8.6% of New Jersey elementary schools.


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SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau and the New Jersey Department of Education.

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS: Not all boundaries are included. We make every effort to ensure that boundaries are up-to-date. But it's important to note that these are approximations and are for general informational purposes only. To verify legal descriptions of boundaries or school locations, contact your local tax assessor's office and/or school district.





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