The top reported proficiency rate is 45% in English language arts. The lowest is 7% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Langston Hughes Elementary School
Langston Hughes Elementary School is a regular public elementary school in East Orange, New Jersey, serving children from pre-kindergarten through fifth grade. It is one of the elementary schools within the East Orange School District, a district that serves a dense, diverse community just west of Newark. East Orange itself is an urban-suburban mix known for its tree-lined residential streets and historic commercial corridors along Main Street and Central Avenue, which once earned Central Avenue the nickname “Fifth Avenue of New Jersey.” The city has two NJ Transit train stations — Brick Church and East Orange — that offer direct service to midtown Manhattan, and it holds a Transit Village designation that reflects walkable, transit-oriented development. Healthcare is a dominant local employer, anchored by the VA Medical Center and CareWell Health Medical Center. The city has seen population growth in recent years, and its Urban Enterprise Zone encourages commercial investment along key corridors.
The school enrolls a student body that is predominantly Black, with a substantial share of students of Hispanic background and small numbers of white, Asian, and multiracial students. A large majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating that the school serves a high-poverty population. Enrollment is spread fairly evenly across grades from pre-K through fifth, with each grade level housing a similar number of students. No data on students with disabilities or English learners was available for this school, so a parent may want to ask the school about its special education and language support programs directly.
State testing results are reported for grades three through five in English language arts and math, and for grade five in science. In English language arts, the share of students meeting the proficient benchmark hovers around the midpoint of the tested grades, with the strongest performance in grade four, where just under half of students scored proficient or above. Math results show a steeper decline across the grades: a moderate share of third graders were proficient, but that share falls by fourth and fifth grade, where the proportion proficient is markedly lower. Science results in grade five are very low. Across all tested subjects and grades, the school’s overall proficiency index sits below the midpoint when compared with districts across Essex County. This pattern suggests that while some students reach grade-level expectations in reading, math and science are areas of concern that families may wish to discuss with the school regarding interventions and support.
The school does not serve high school grades, so there is no graduation rate to report, nor is there data on chronic absenteeism or discipline. Information on staffing ratios, course access, and after-school programs was not available in the data reviewed. As a regular public school, Langston Hughes operates within the East Orange School District, which is the parent district for all elementary, middle, and high schools in the city. The district’s recent changes were not well documented in the sources examined, so it is difficult to say whether any major shifts in curriculum, leadership, or facilities have taken place in the last few years.
For a family considering this school, the community context offers a mix of urban convenience and suburban-style housing. Home values in the area are moderate relative to the broader region, and rental prices have been trending up. The housing market shows a modest supply of listings and consistent demand. The city’s growth narrative is one of renewal, with transit access and commercial corridors as anchors. However, the academic performance data indicates that students here, on average, are not reaching state proficiency targets in math and science at the same rates as peers in many other Essex County districts. A parent might explore what individual academic supports, such as tutoring or small-group instruction, are available, particularly in the upper elementary grades where the drop-off in math proficiency is most pronounced.
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