Woodrow Wilson School #5, Garfield NJ

Original Research by School Decision on Woodrow Wilson School #5

Woodrow Wilson School #5 in Garfield is a closed school. It served a middle-school grade band, part of the Garfield Public School District. Because the school is no longer operating, the available data is sparse and largely historical, so this account is necessarily brief.

State testing results from the 2022-23 school year are the main academic snapshot available. In math, the share of students meeting proficiency rose with each grade level, with a lower figure in grade three and a much higher one in grade five. English language arts results were stronger across the board, with the fourth and fifth grade cohorts showing a very high proficiency rate, while third grade was also above the midpoint. In science, the fifth grade cohort recorded a rate that was lower and may give a parent pause; this was a single year of data from one grade, but it stands out against the stronger ELA and math outcomes at that same grade level.

No enrollment, demographic, or economic context data was provided for the school itself, nor any information on staffing, discipline, civil rights outcomes, or program offerings. Participation rates for the state assessments were also missing. This means there is no way to describe the student body, the share of students learning English, the school's size, or how many teachers were on staff. The school's directory listing notes it was a regular public school that has since closed.

Garfield is a densely populated, mixed-use city in Bergen County with a working-class and industrial heritage. It has a young median age and a diverse population. The city's economy has transitioned away from a historic large employer, Garden State Paper, which closed. Key civic anchors include a lake county park, a public library, a recreation center, and a YMCA. The housing market in the broader zip code area shows rising home values and rental costs, consistent with the tight Bergen County market.

A parent researching Woodrow Wilson School #5 will find that its story is essentially finished. The school is no longer operating, and the most recent performance data shows a mixed academic picture from a single year. Anyone evaluating the current educational options in Garfield would need to look at the other schools in the district. The district itself had a notable recognition in 2023 when Washington Irving School #4, another of its elementary schools, was named a National Blue Ribbon School. That may inform how families think about the district's overall quality today.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 327%

School 27% · District 45% · ▼ 18 pts below district

▼ 23 pts below state median

Grade 456%

School 56% · District 54% · ▲ 3 pts above district

▲ 11 pts above state median

Grade 574%

School 74% · District 55% · ▲ 19 pts above district

▲ 32 pts above state median

English language arts

Grade 363%

School 63% · District 43% · ▲ 20 pts above district

▲ 18 pts above state median

Grade 487%

School 87% · District 71% · ▲ 16 pts above district

▲ 31 pts above state median

Grade 587%

School 87% · District 65% · ▲ 22 pts above district

▲ 33 pts above state median

Science

Grade 536%

School 36% · District 30% · ▲ 6 pts above district

▲ 9 pts above state median

This schoolGarfield Public School District, 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-income72%Higher-income100%29 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income88%Higher-income86%1 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 4Lower-income40%Higher-income71%31 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income75%Higher-income74%1 pp gap