The Light Bearer

How Black students are performing in New Jersey schools

In New Jersey, 30.4% of Black students are proficient in reading at the typical school — against 53.7% of White students. Within Elizabeth Public Schools alone, the gap between the best and worst schools for Black children is 82 points. This tool helps you find the right one.

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38.1%
All students
24.9%
Black
29.3%
Hispanic
48.9%
White
63.3%
Asian

Share of students meeting proficient at the typical New Jersey school. Groups are shown wherever New Jersey reports them; a group is omitted from a school when too few students were tested to report safely.

These figures come from NJSLA 2025, measuring proficient in ELA & Math · Grades 3–8. Across 236 districts, 756 New Jersey schools report enough results to be included.

At the typical New Jersey school the picture is black students at 24.9%, hispanic students at 29.3%, white students at 48.9% and asian students at 63.3%. That is a 38.4-point spread between the highest and lowest group, inside the same schools, the same districts and the same state — which is what this tool exists to make visible.

What the New Jersey data shows

Opportunity
3

New Jersey schools earn an A for Black students

An A means 80% or more of Black students are proficient. Terence C. Reilly School No 7 in Elizabeth leads at 83.0% across 212 Black student results. Another eight schools reach 70%.

Disparity
81.8 pts

gap between the best and worst schools for Black students in Elizabeth Public Schools

Terence C. Reilly School No 7 reaches 83.0%. Dr. Antonia Pantoja School, in the same district, sits at 1.2%. Two schools under one administration, 82 points apart.

Statewide
31.8 pts

separates Black and White students in New Jersey math

21.4% of Black students are proficient in math, against 53.2% of White students. Reading is 26.5 points.

Where Black students are doing best in New Jersey

These are the schools where Black students most often meet proficient, among those with at least 25 Black student results reported. Every group's result is shown alongside, because a school that serves one group well and another poorly is telling you something too.

SchoolAllBlackHispanicWhiteAsian
Terence C. Reilly School No 7Elizabeth Public Schools Magnet 80.4% 83% 78.6% 14.3%
Soaring Heights Charter SchoolSoaring Heights Charter School Charter 82.5% 82.6% 91.7% 90% 85.4%
Science Park High SchoolNewark Public School District Magnet 88.9% 81.8% 91.2% 10.7%
Michelle Obama Elementary SchoolNewark Public School District 76.3% 79.5%
Mansfield Township Elementary SchoolMansfield Township School District 72.3% 77.8% 70.9% 86.4%
Stewartsville Middle SchoolGreenwich Township School District 69.3% 76.9% 41.7% 70.3%
Mount Pleasant Elementary SchoolWest Orange Public Schools 72.2% 75% 48.6% 75%
Academy IJersey City Public Schools Magnet 90.4% 73.8% 83.3% 89.5% 97.3%
Dwight D. Eisenhower Elementary SchoolSayreville School District 48.9% 69.2% 27.3% 46.7% 75%
Mount Pleasant Middle SchoolLivingston Board Of Education School District 80.3% 67.2% 62.9% 67.6% 96.2%

Flags show magnet, charter, alternative and virtual schools. Some campuses — early college and specialized academies among them — also admit by application, and this page cannot yet identify all of them. Check with the district before assuming a school is open to your address.

Where Black students are struggling most

The same measure at the other end of the range. In many of these schools every group is falling short, which points at the school rather than at the students in it.

SchoolAllBlackHispanicWhiteAsian
Indiana Avenue Elementary SchoolWoodbridge Township School District 41.4% 0% 22.1% 0.3% 55.2%
Charles L. Spragg SchoolEgg Harbor City School District 8.5% 0% 4.3% 25.8%
Riverside Middle SchoolRiverside Township School District 18.8% 0.2% 11.3% 29.1%
Dr. Antonia Pantoja School No. 27Elizabeth Public Schools 34.5% 1.2% 32.9%
Quarter Mile Lane SchoolBridgeton City School District 11.7% 1.3% 13.3%
Senator Frank Lautenberg SchoolPaterson Public School District 7.1% 1.4% 7.6%
Howard M. Phifer Middle SchoolPennsauken Township Board Of Education School District 20.1% 1.5% 13.9% 2.4% 4.2%
School 26Paterson Public School District 10.7% 1.6% 12.2%
Rieck Avenue Elementary SchoolMillville School District 35.7% 1.6% 16.1% 16.3%
Reeds Road Elementary SchoolGalloway Township Public School District 30.6% 1.6% 18.3% 37.8% 73.1%

One district, two outcomes

In Elizabeth Public Schools, Terence C. Reilly School No 7 reports 83% of Black students meeting the standard. Dr. Antonia Pantoja School No. 27, in the same district, reports 1.2%. That is a 81.8-point spread across 12 schools under one administration, serving one community, funded by one tax base — the clearest illustration of why address matters more than it should.

New Jersey districts

Districts with at least ten schools reporting Black student results, by school count. The percentage shown is the average across that district's schools for Black students.

Newark Public School District — 28 schools, 21.1% average
Jersey City Public Schools — 19 schools, 25.7% average
East Orange School District — 15 schools, 27.2% average
Trenton Public School District — 15 schools, 8.2% average
Paterson Public School District — 13 schools, 8% average
Elizabeth Public Schools — 12 schools, 21.3% average
Irvington Public School District — 10 schools, 18.1% average
West Orange Public Schools — 10 schools, 52.8% average
Franklin Township Public School District — 9 schools, 36.1% average
Gloucester Township Public Schools — 9 schools, 29.2% average
Piscataway Township School District — 9 schools, 36.8% average
Township Of Union School District — 9 schools, 34.5% average
Camden City School District — 8 schools, 10% average
Linden Public School District — 8 schools, 29.9% average
Orange Board Of Education School District — 8 schools, 29.1% average
South Orange-Maplewood School District — 8 schools, 30.1% average
Vineland Public School District — 8 schools, 14.4% average
Woodbridge Township School District — 8 schools, 14.8% average
Hamilton Township Public School District — 7 schools, 22.6% average
Winslow Township School District — 7 schools, 33.1% average
Bayonne School District — 6 schools, 25.6% average
Bloomfield Township School District — 6 schools, 38.6% average
Cherry Hill School District — 6 schools, 38.8% average
Mount Laurel Township School District — 6 schools, 21.7% average
North Brunswick Township School District — 6 schools, 21.4% average
Plainfield Public School District — 6 schools, 25.6% average
Sayreville School District — 6 schools, 53.6% average
Washington Township School District — 6 schools, 20.7% average
Atlantic City School District — 5 schools, 13.3% average
Edison Township School District — 5 schools, 28.7% average
Galloway Township Public School District — 5 schools, 13% average
Hillside Public School District — 5 schools, 40.6% average
Millville School District — 5 schools, 9.3% average
Monroe Township Public School District — 5 schools, 36.5% average
Montclair Public School District — 5 schools, 42% average
Neptune Township School District — 5 schools, 22.2% average
Rahway Public School District — 5 schools, 30.7% average
Roselle Public School District — 5 schools, 28.6% average
Teaneck School District — 5 schools, 42.3% average
Toms River Regional School District — 5 schools, 18.6% average
How these averages are calculated. The figures above average across New Jersey schools, giving each school equal weight. They describe the typical school, not the state's tested population, and will differ from the headline figure NJSLA 2025 publishes — that one weights every student equally, so larger schools count for more. Use the state's own published figure when citing a statewide number.

How to read the school data. New Jersey suppresses results for groups with too few students tested. Schools without a reportable Black student result are excluded rather than shown as zero — 756 of New Jersey's schools have reportable data. Coverage is grades 3–8; high schools are not included. This ranking reflects the 2024–25 administration, grades 3–8. Results are refreshed annually as new data is published. Because every state sets its own proficiency standard, New Jersey's figures should not be compared directly against another state's.

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