Jamesburg Public Schools

The Jamesburg Public Schools are a community public school district that serves students in kindergarten through eighth grade from Jamesburg, in Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States.[3]

Jamesburg Public Schools
Address
Augusta Street Jamesburg, NJ 08831 United States
Coordinates	40.353256°N 74.436997°W
District information
Grades	PreK-8
Superintendent	Brian Betze
Business administrator	Nick Mackres
Schools	2
Students and staff
Enrollment	702 (as of 2017-18)[1]
Faculty	54.0 FTEs[1]
Student–teacher ratio	13.0:1[1]
Other information
District Factor Group	DE
Website	http://www.jamesburg.org
Ind. Per pupil District spending Rank (*) K-8 average %± vs. average 1A Total Spending $15,917 11 $18,891 −15.7% 1 Budgetary Cost 8,168 1 14,159 −42.3% 2 Classroom Instruction 5,731 1 8,659 −33.8% 6 Support Services 722 1 2,167 −66.7% 8 Administrative Cost 991 1 1,547 −35.9% 10 Operations & Maintenance 714 2 1,612 −55.7% 13 Extracurricular Activities 10 1 104 −90.4% 16 Median Teacher Salary 54,479 13 61,136 Data from NJDoE 2014 Taxpayers' Guide to Education Spending.[2] *Of K-8 districts with 401-750 students. Lowest spending=1; Highest=64

As of the 2017-18 school year, the district and its two schools had an enrollment of 702 students and 54.0 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 13.0:1.[1]

The district is classified by the New Jersey Department of Education as being in District Factor Group "DE", the fifth-highest of eight groupings. District Factor Groups organize districts statewide to allow comparison by common socioeconomic characteristics of the local districts. From lowest socioeconomic status to highest, the categories are A, B, CD, DE, FG, GH, I and J.[4]

Schools

Schools in the district (with 2017-18 enrollment data from the National Center for Education Statistics[5]) are:[6]

Elementary school

• John F. Kennedy Elementary School[7] (493 students; in grades PreK-5)
  • Kristy DeFazio, Principal[8]

Middle school

• Grace M. Breckwedel Middle School[9] (201; 6-8). The school offers opportunities for middle school students to participate in the National Honor Society, Student Senate, Band, and theme-based research projects.
  • Chad Donahue, Principal[10]

Former and converted schools

Jamesburg High School

Jamesburg High School, which was founded in 1905, graduated its last class in June 1979. Since the 1979-80 school year, Jamesburg's high school students have attended Monroe Township High School in Monroe Township, as part of a sending/receiving relationship with the Monroe Township School District.[11][12] As of the 2017-18 school year, the high school had an enrollment of 2,307 students and 173.7 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 13.3:1.[13]

With annual tuition costs per student at Monroe Township High School rising past $16,000 as the Monroe district has added debt service costs into their tuition charges, the Jamesburg Public Schools has looked for an alternate high school in the area to send students at lower cost, which would have started with the freshman class in 2012-13, though students already enrolled at Monroe Township High School would continue their attendance there until they graduate. The Jamesburg district contacted 18 districts and received interest from high schools in the Freehold Regional High School District, Matawan-Aberdeen, Old Bridge, South Amboy and West Windsor-Plainsboro, which had been sent demographic information in July 2011 about the Jamesburg high school population as part of their review process.[14] However, in October 2011, the district decided to continue sending their high school students to Monroe Township.[15]

The first building to house the high school was eventually demolished and replaced by the current Grace M. Breckwedel Middle School building. The second building that housed the high school was turned into an office complex, which is still there today and known as Forsgate Commons.[16] It is located on the intersection of Forsgate Drive and Davison Avenue, directly behind the district's John F. Kennedy Elementary School.

Administration

Core members of the district's administration are:[17][18]

• Brian Betze, Superintendent[19]
• Nick Mackres, Business Administrator[20]

References

1. District information for Jamesburg Public School District, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed November 1, 2019.
2. Taxpayers' Guide to Education Spending April 2013, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed April 15, 2013.
3. Public School Directory 2017-2018, Middlesex County, New Jersey. Accessed December 1, 2019.
4. NJ Department of Education District Factor Groups (DFG) for School Districts, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed October 12, 2014.
5. School Data for the Jamesburg Public Schools, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed November 1, 2019.
6. New Jersey School Directory for the Jamesburg Public Schools, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed December 29, 2016.
7. John F. Kennedy Elementary School, Jamesburg Public Schools. Accessed December 5, 2019.
8. Principal JFK School, Jamesburg Public Schools. Accessed December 5, 2019.
9. Grace M. Breckwedel Middle School, Jamesburg Public Schools. Accessed December 5, 2019.
10. Principal GMB Middle School, Jamesburg Public Schools. Accessed December 5, 2019.
11. Monroe Township High School 2016 Report Card Narrative, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed December 12, 2017. "Monroe Township High School is centrally located within a forty-three square mile suburban community in Southern Middlesex County. Originally opened on Perrineville Road in 1973, the high school became a receiving school for approximately 300 high school age students from neighboring Jamesburg in 1980."
12. Cheslow, Jerry. "A Townful of Empty Nesters", The New York Times, October 14, 2007. Accessed August 8, 2008. "In addition to the four elementary schools, the Applegarth Middle School teaches Grades 7 and 8, and the 1,400-student Monroe Township High School covers Grades 9 through 12. It is shared with the borough of Jamesburg, the 'hole in the doughnut' municipality in the center of the township."
13. School data for Monroe Township High School, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed November 1, 2019.
14. Haberstroh, Christina. "Five High Schools Consider taking Jamesburg Students Archived 2013-01-24 at Archive.today, The Sentinel, July 7, 2011. Accessed JOctober 12, 2014.
15. Staff. "Jamesburg students will remain at Monroe H.S.", News Transcript, October 26, 2011. Accessed November 2, 2016. "The Jamesburg board had set an Oct. 1 deadline for interested districts to respond. The board would have then conducted a feasibility study before choosing a new high school for its students. Instead, Jamesburg will continue the send-receive relationship it has had with Monroe Township since 1979."
16. Jamesburg High School History, Jamesburg.net. Accessed August 7, 2019.
17. Administration, Jamesburg Public Schools. Accessed December 5, 2019.
18. New Jersey School Directory for Middlesex County, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed December 29, 2016.
19. Superintendent of Schools, Jamesburg Public Schools. Accessed December 5, 2019.
20. Business Administrator, Jamesburg Public Schools. Accessed December 5, 2019.

External links

• Official website
• Jamesburg Public Schools's 2015–16 School Report Card from the New Jersey Department of Education
• School Data for the Jamesburg Public Schools, National Center for Education Statistics