Dr. Orlando Edreira Academy School No. 26, Elizabeth NJ

Original Research by School Decision on Dr. Orlando Edreira Academy School No. 26

Dr. Orlando Edreira Academy School No. 26 is a regular public school in Elizabeth, New Jersey, serving pre-kindergarten through eighth grade. The school is part of the Elizabeth Public Schools district, which operates in a dense urban setting. Elizabeth itself is a highly diverse city, the Union County seat, with a mix of residential neighborhoods, major retail destinations, and heavy industrial and port infrastructure anchored by Port Newark-Elizabeth and Newark Liberty International Airport. The city has experienced population growth and significant economic development in recent decades. Families living in the surrounding Elmora area and other parts of Elizabeth have access to this neighborhood school.

The student body is predominantly Hispanic, with a much smaller share of Black, White, and Asian students. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting the economic diversity of the community the school serves. The school is mid-sized for a PK-8 campus, drawing from a compact attendance zone. No data on the share of English learners or students with disabilities was available.

Academically, the picture is mixed and varies by grade level and subject. On the New Jersey Student Learning Assessments, English language arts proficiency is a relative strength. In the early elementary grades, around half of students meet the state’s proficient or above threshold. That share rises notably in the upper grades, reaching a strong level in seventh and eighth grade. This suggests the school is effective at developing reading and writing skills as students progress through the middle grades.

Mathematics proficiency is more uneven. In third and fourth grade, about half of students score proficient or above. But the rate drops in fifth grade and falls sharply in sixth grade, with only a modest recovery in seventh grade. The sixth-grade math results are a clear soft spot. A parent may want to ask the school what supports are in place for middle school math and how the transition to more advanced topics is handled. Science proficiency is low in both the fifth and eighth grade assessments, a pattern that warrants further inquiry.

Overall, when measured across all tested subjects and grades, the school’s proficiency index sits above the midpoint among schools in Union County, placing it in the upper half of its local peers. That said, school-level performance can vary considerably within a large district like Elizabeth, and the wide range of results by subject and grade suggests that a family’s experience will depend heavily on the classroom and teacher their child is assigned to.

Because the school ends at eighth grade, there is no graduation rate data to report, and data on chronic absenteeism, discipline, and staffing were not available. No information about after-school programs, advanced coursework, or enrichment offerings was found in the data provided.

For a family considering this school, the key takeaway is that Dr. Orlando Edreira Academy provides a solid foundation in literacy, especially for students who stay through the middle grades, but math and science will require attention. The school serves a high-needs population in a dynamic urban setting, and its results relative to other Union County schools are reasonably competitive. Parents should reach out to the school directly to ask about specific academic interventions, class sizes, and extracurricular options to see how well it matches their child’s needs.

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Academic performance

How students perform on state tests, by grade, set against the district.

Math

Grade 353%

School 53% · District 37% · ▲ 16 pts above district

▲ 3 pts above state median · ▲ 12 pts above county median

Grade 449%

School 49% · District 32% · ▲ 17 pts above district

▲ 4 pts above state median · ▲ 14 pts above county median

Grade 536%

School 36% · District 33% · ▲ 3 pts above district

▼ 7 pts below state median · even with county median

Grade 613%

School 13% · District 26% · ▼ 13 pts below district

▼ 21 pts below state median · ▼ 14 pts below county median

Grade 727%

School 27% · District 21% · ▲ 7 pts above district

▼ 8 pts below state median · ▲ 6 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 355%

School 55% · District 30% · ▲ 25 pts above district

▲ 10 pts above state median · ▲ 14 pts above county median

Grade 449%

School 49% · District 37% · ▲ 13 pts above district

▼ 6 pts below state median · ▲ 2 pts above county median

Grade 548%

School 48% · District 40% · ▲ 8 pts above district

▼ 6 pts below state median · ▼ 1 pts below county median

Grade 653%

School 53% · District 53%

▼ 1 pts below state median · even with county median

Grade 771%

School 71% · District 56% · ▲ 15 pts above district

▲ 13 pts above state median · ▲ 16 pts above county median

Grade 871%

School 71% · District 55% · ▲ 17 pts above district

▲ 13 pts above state median · ▲ 13 pts above county median

Science

Grade 513%

School 13% · District 15% · ▼ 2 pts below district

▼ 14 pts below state median · ▼ 7 pts below county median

Grade 89%

School 9% · District 9%

▼ 4 pts below state median · ▲ 1 pts above county median

This schoolElizabeth Public Schools, same grade

Graduation rate (ACGR) reflects the federally published Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate for the most recent year available. We refresh this data annually at the close of each academic year in June. The federal source publishes a banded rate (for example, "90-94%") instead of an exact number for cohorts small enough to risk identifying individual students. The state distribution chart, where shown, plots every school in the state with a published rate or band; schools whose rate is federally suppressed are excluded. Where the federal source publishes a band rather than an exact rate, the school is placed within its band using a stable, ID-derived offset, so its position is consistent across visits.

Proficiency by household income

English language arts

Grade 4Lower-income50%Higher-income47%3 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income47%Higher-income54%7 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income68%Higher-income77%9 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income66%Higher-income90%24 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 4Lower-income50%Higher-income47%3 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income35%Higher-income39%4 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income26%Higher-income31%5 pp gap