Original Research by School Decision on Forest Avenue School
Forest Avenue School is one of three small primary schools in the Glen Ridge Public School District, serving children from pre-kindergarten through second grade. At this grade band, the school has no state testing results to report because New Jersey does not administer its standardized assessments until later elementary grades. The absence of test scores reflects the school’s early-childhood focus, not an institutional shortcoming; families evaluating academic performance here will need to look to the district’s upper-grade schools for that data.
The school is small, enrolling just enough students to fill four grade-level groups from pre-K through second grade. The student body is predominantly white, with notably smaller shares of Asian, Hispanic, Black, and multiracial students. A very small fraction of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting the high-income character of the community. The school does not report counts of students with disabilities or English learners, so a parent seeking detailed information on special populations would want to ask the school directly.
Forest Avenue School sits within Glen Ridge, a compact borough of historic homes, tree-lined streets illuminated by gas lamps, and slate sidewalks. The borough is primarily residential, with no commercial downtown or retail corridor; residents rely on neighboring Montclair and Bloomfield for shopping and dining. Street life is quiet and walkable, and the small grid makes the community navigable by foot or bike. The Glen Ridge train station on the Montclair-Boonton Line provides a direct link to New York City. Housing values in the zip code are very high, well above national and state medians, and the market shows constrained supply typical of an older, landlocked suburb. The borough has seen modest population growth over the past two decades, but development is limited by its small area and early zoning regulations.
The Glen Ridge district has recently moved forward with significant capital improvements. Voters approved a bond referendum for district-wide HVAC and air conditioning installation, roof and masonry repairs, safety and security upgrades, window and door replacements, ADA accessibility improvements, and classroom renovations across all schools. In the same year, voters also approved the annual school budget plus two additional tax increases specifically for gym floor replacement and locker room renovations at the high school and Central School, as well as roof and exterior repairs at the high school. These investments signal a community committed to maintaining its school facilities.
For a family considering Forest Avenue School, the key context is that this is a very early-entry point in a small, wealthy, historically rooted district. The school’s size means children experience a highly personalized environment. The peer group will come from an affluent, predominantly white, and economically homogeneous community. There is no state testing data to draw on, so academic readiness will be assessed informally or through district-developed benchmarks. Students will move on to Ridgewood Avenue School for grades three through six and then to Glen Ridge High School for grades seven through twelve. The district’s recent facility investments are set to improve the physical learning environment across all grade levels.
This is a school that fits families who value a neighborhood-scaled primary experience in a walkable, historic, and well-resourced suburb, and who are comfortable that the academic measures typical of older grades simply do not apply here. Parents with specific questions about early childhood programming, special education services, or English learner support may want to follow up with the school directly, as those data were not available in public records.
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