The top reported proficiency rate is 13% in Math. The lowest is 11% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Fourteenth Avenue School
Fourteenth Avenue School is a special education school within the Newark Public School District, serving students from pre-kindergarten through eighth grade. It operates as a district-run school designed to meet the needs of students with disabilities, and its grade band means it does not have a graduation rate because it does not serve high school grades.
The school is small, with enrollment reflecting an intimate setting. The student body is predominantly Black and Hispanic, representing a large share of the total enrollment. A substantial majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating a lower-income population. Data on the share of students with Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) or English learner status was not available; since this is a dedicated special education school, a parent may want to look into this further with the school to understand how the school classifies and serves its students.
State testing data was available for the 2016-17 school year, which is the only year of academic performance data provided. In both math and English language arts, proficiency rates were low. For math, the share of students scoring proficient or above was about one in ten for third grade and one in ten for fourth grade. In English language arts, roughly one in eleven third graders and about one in eight fourth graders met the proficiency bar. These results placed Fourteenth Avenue School in the bottom quartile of all schools in Essex County on the overall proficiency index, which averages proficiency across tested grades and subjects. Because the data is from a single year and is several years old, it offers a limited picture of current performance, and the nature of the school as a special education setting means that comparing its results to those of general education schools does not provide a full understanding of student progress.
The school is located on Speedway Avenue in Newark. The city is New Jersey's largest, a dense urban center with a mix of commercial, industrial, and residential areas. Newark has a major downtown core with office towers, law firms, universities, and cultural institutions like the New Jersey Performing Arts Center and the Prudential Center arena. The housing market in the area shows a median listing price that is higher than the national average, and rents are also above typical national levels. The city has experienced population growth and revitalization investment in recent decades.
Fourteenth Avenue Avenue School, as a special education school within Newark's district, serves a specialized role. Its primary mission is to support students with disabilities, and it does not offer the same academic programs or pathways as a general education school. The district itself has seen recent developments, including being declared a High Performing District by the state in 2026, a milestone after a period of state control. The district has also launched new career-themed high schools and a long-term strategic plan. However, Fourteenth Avenue School's program offerings at the K-8 level were not provided in the data, so specific information about its curriculum, therapy services, or specialized instruction is not available. A family considering this school would want to learn directly from the school about its approach to instruction, the specific disabilities it is equipped to serve, and how it measures student growth beyond standardized tests.
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