Avon Avenue School, Newark NJ - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Avon Avenue School

Avon Avenue School is a regular public school in Newark, serving pre-kindergarten through eighth grade. It is part of the Newark Public School District, a system that has recently garnered attention for being declared a high-performing district by the state, a notable designation given its history of state intervention. The school itself is a neighborhood-based option for families living in the city’s South Ward, and its profile fits squarely within the broader context of a large, urban district that is investing in new career-themed high schools, though those high school pathways are not reachable at this K-8 building.

The student body at Avon Avenue is predominantly Black, with a large Hispanic population, and a substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. The school is a regular public institution, not a charter or magnet, so it draws its enrollment from its local attendance zone. It is a mid-sized elementary and middle school for its grade band, with classes running from pre-kindergarten through eighth grade, meaning students would need to transition to a separate high school after completing eighth grade.

On state assessments, the proficiency numbers across mathematics, English language arts, and science are low. In most tested grades, the share of students scoring at or above the proficient level is in the single digits or teens, with a few exceptions. Seventh grade English language arts, for instance, showed a somewhat higher proficiency rate, and third grade math and English language arts also posted relatively better results. The overall proficiency index, which averages all tested subjects and grades, placed Avon Avenue in the bottom quartile when compared with other districts in Essex County. A parent should note that participation rates for these tests were not available in the data. The school does not serve high school grades, so there is no four-year graduation rate to review.

The school environment section in the available data lacked detailed information on discipline rates, chronic absenteeism, staffing ratios, course access, and special education and English learner counts. These are important dimensions of a school’s daily operation, and their absence means a family relying on this profile will want to ask the school directly about class sizes, the availability of supports for students with individualized education programs, and the school’s approach to student behavior and attendance.

Newark itself is New Jersey’s largest city, a dense urban center with a major port, airport, corporate headquarters, and university campuses. It has seen a population rebound after decades of decline and has ongoing revitalization projects. Housing in the area around Avon Avenue reflects city-wide patterns, with a mix of older housing stock and some newer development. The school’s zip code data showed a slight dip in home values and rents over the recent year, set against a county-wide market where median listing prices have been relatively stable. For a family considering a move to this part of Newark, the housing picture is one of a dense urban market with modest softening, not a rapid boom or bust.

For a parent or resident, Avon Avenue School represents a standard public school option in a major urban district that has recently earned a state seal of approval for district-level performance. The test results, however, indicate that academic proficiency is a significant area of concern, and without additional data on the school’s programs, supports, and climate, it is difficult to judge how well the school is addressing that challenge at the classroom level. A family with a child assigned here would likely benefit from a direct visit and a conversation with the school about how it works to move students toward grade-level mastery, especially in the middle grades where the proficiency figures are particularly low.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 326%

School 26% · District 28% · ▼ 1 pts below district

▼ 24 pts below state median · ▼ 13 pts below county median

Grade 46%

School 6% · District 23% · ▼ 18 pts below district

▼ 40 pts below state median · ▼ 33 pts below county median

Grade 53%

School 3% · District 22% · ▼ 19 pts below district

▼ 40 pts below state median · ▼ 29 pts below county median

Grade 67%

School 7% · District 18% · ▼ 11 pts below district

▼ 27 pts below state median · ▼ 17 pts below county median

Grade 719%

School 19% · District 21% · ▼ 1 pts below district

▼ 15 pts below state median · ▼ 3 pts below county median

Grade 82%

School 2% · District 12% · ▼ 10 pts below district

▼ 15 pts below state median · ▼ 10 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 331%

School 31% · District 28% · ▲ 3 pts above district

▼ 14 pts below state median · ▼ 10 pts below county median

Grade 43%

School 3% · District 30% · ▼ 27 pts below district

▼ 52 pts below state median · ▼ 50 pts below county median

Grade 56%

School 6% · District 31% · ▼ 25 pts below district

▼ 48 pts below state median · ▼ 42 pts below county median

Grade 630%

School 30% · District 36% · ▼ 6 pts below district

▼ 24 pts below state median · ▼ 20 pts below county median

Grade 750%

School 50% · District 38% · ▲ 12 pts above district

▼ 7 pts below state median · even with county median

Grade 833%

School 33% · District 39% · ▼ 6 pts below district

▼ 25 pts below state median · ▼ 15 pts below county median

Science

Grade 50%

School 0% · District 10% · ▼ 10 pts below district

▼ 27 pts below state median · ▼ 17 pts below county median

Grade 86%

School 6% · District 6% · ▲ 1 pts above district

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

This schoolNewark 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 6Lower-income27%Higher-income40%13 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income32%Higher-income40%8 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 6Lower-income6%Higher-income10%4 pp gap