Ridge Street School, Newark NJ - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Ridge Street School

Ridge Street School serves students from prekindergarten through eighth grade in Newark, as a regular public school within the Newark Public School District. It is a neighborhood school located in the city’s North Ward, drawing from a dense residential area. For a family considering this school, the peer environment is heavily shaped by the student body: the overwhelming majority of students are Hispanic, with a much smaller share of Black students and very few white, Asian, or multiracial students. A substantial share of students come from low-income households, as measured by eligibility for free or reduced-price lunch. The school is part of a large urban district that has seen significant recent change, including being declared a High Performing District by the state in 2026 after years of state oversight, a development that speaks to the district’s trajectory of improvement.

Academically, Ridge Street School’s state test results present a varied picture that depends heavily on subject and grade level. In English language arts, there is a clear pattern of stronger performance in the middle grades. Proficiency rates climb from the lower elementary grades to a noticeable high point in sixth and seventh grade, before dropping back in eighth grade. This suggests that the school may have particular strengths in literacy instruction as students move through the upper elementary and early middle school years. In mathematics, the picture is more challenging. Proficiency rates are lower across the board, with a notable decline as students reach eighth grade. The eighth-grade math results are a soft spot, and a parent may want to look into this further with the school to understand how the math curriculum and support are structured in the upper grades. Science results are very low at both the tested grade levels, which is an area of concern.

When measured against other school districts in Essex County, Ridge Street School’s overall proficiency across all tested subjects and grades sits below the midpoint of the county. This contextualizes performance within a county that includes both high-performing suburban districts and urban districts facing significant challenges. The school does not serve high school grades, so there is no graduation rate to examine.

The school’s setting is urban Newark, a dense, mixed-use city that is the most populous in New Jersey and a major employment center. The school is situated on Ridge Street, a location within the city’s grid of residential streets and commercial corridors. Parents dropping off or picking up children will be navigating city traffic and street parking, which is typical for an urban neighborhood school. The housing market in the surrounding zip code reflects a typical urban cost structure, with home values and rents that are more moderate than many suburban parts of Essex County. The city itself has been experiencing a population rebound and ongoing revitalization investment, though the school’s immediate neighborhood remains a working-class, primarily residential area.

For families already living in the North Ward of Newark, Ridge Street is the zoned option through eighth grade, after which students would transition to a Newark high school. The district has been expanding career-themed high schools, so a family staying in the district for high school has growing options. The school is a straightforward neighborhood pathway for elementary and middle grades, with academic performance that is uneven and that families should examine closely by grade and subject before enrolling.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 345%

School 45% · District 28% · ▲ 18 pts above district

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

Grade 425%

School 25% · District 23% · ▲ 1 pts above district

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

Grade 530%

School 30% · District 22% · ▲ 8 pts above district

▼ 13 pts below state median · ▼ 2 pts below county median

Grade 628%

School 28% · District 18% · ▲ 10 pts above district

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

Grade 733%

School 33% · District 21% · ▲ 12 pts above district

▼ 1 pts below state median · ▲ 10 pts above county median

Grade 815%

School 15% · District 12% · ▲ 3 pts above district

▼ 2 pts below state median · ▲ 3 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 339%

School 39% · District 28% · ▲ 11 pts above district

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

Grade 435%

School 35% · District 30% · ▲ 5 pts above district

▼ 20 pts below state median · ▼ 18 pts below county median

Grade 556%

School 56% · District 31% · ▲ 25 pts above district

▲ 2 pts above state median · ▲ 8 pts above county median

Grade 658%

School 58% · District 36% · ▲ 22 pts above district

▲ 4 pts above state median · ▲ 8 pts above county median

Grade 762%

School 62% · District 38% · ▲ 24 pts above district

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

Grade 835%

School 35% · District 39% · ▼ 4 pts below district

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

Science

Grade 59%

School 9% · District 10% · ▼ 2 pts below district

▼ 19 pts below state median · ▼ 8 pts below county median

Grade 82%

School 2% · District 6% · ▼ 4 pts below district

▼ 11 pts below state median · ▼ 4 pts below 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 4Lower-income30%Higher-income60%30 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income58%Higher-income77%19 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 4Lower-income22%Higher-income40%18 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income30%Higher-income46%16 pp gap