Daniel F. Ryan Elementary School No. 19, Passaic NJ

Original Research by School Decision on Daniel F. Ryan Elementary School No. 19

Daniel F. Ryan Elementary School No. 19 serves students from first through eighth grade in Passaic, a city in Passaic County. The school is part of the Passaic City School District. For a parent or resident considering this school, the central fact is that Ryan 19 operates in an environment of very high economic need. Nearly every student qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, which frames the context for the academic results.

The student body at Ryan is almost entirely Hispanic, with a very small number of students from other racial and ethnic backgrounds. Data on the share of students receiving special education services or classified as English learners was not available in the profile, so it is not possible to describe those populations here. A parent may want to ask the school directly about its English language learner and special education programs.

On the New Jersey Student Learning Assessments, the school’s proficiency rates were low across most tested grades and subjects, with some variation. In math, the share of students scoring proficient or above was roughly between one-tenth and one-third across grades three through seven, with the seventh-grade rate on the lower end of that range. In English language arts, the rates were generally around one-fifth of students in grades three through six, then rose to roughly one-third in grade seven and crossed the halfway mark in grade eight. Science results were very low in both fifth and eighth grades. When compared to other districts in Passaic County on an overall proficiency index, Ryan 19 fell in the bottom quartile. The school does not serve high school grades, so there is no graduation rate to report.

The school is designated as a regular public school, not a charter or magnet. It is one of many elementary and middle schools in the Passaic City School District. The district itself sits within a city that is densely built and historically industrial, with a strong residential character and a commercial corridor along Main Avenue. Passaic is among the most densely populated municipalities in the country, a compact urban setting where schools are integrated into the neighborhood fabric rather than set apart on large campuses. The city has a substantial and growing Orthodox Jewish community, and the street life in certain areas reflects that presence.

Housing in the area is expensive relative to national benchmarks. Typical home values and rents in Passaic are above the national median, and the local market has seen active listing counts and prices rise. The combination of high housing costs and the school’s very high rate of economic need suggests that many families living in the attendance zone may be stretched financially.

For a family, Ryan 19 is a neighborhood school serving a nearly all-Hispanic student population in a high-poverty urban setting. The academic results on state assessments are low overall, with the eighth-grade English language arts result being a relative bright spot. A parent exploring this school should expect to ask the school and district about what academic supports and programs are in place, particularly for students who are not yet meeting proficiency benchmarks. The district’s strategic priorities and recent initiatives were not available in the profile, so that information would need to come directly from the district.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 314%

School 14% · District 19% · ▼ 5 pts below district

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

Grade 430%

School 30% · District 23% · ▲ 8 pts above district

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

Grade 524%

School 24% · District 21% · ▲ 3 pts above district

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

Grade 612%

School 12% · District 18% · ▼ 5 pts below district

▼ 22 pts below state median · ▼ 4 pts below county median

Grade 77%

School 7% · District 15% · ▼ 8 pts below district

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

English language arts

Grade 319%

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

▼ 26 pts below state median · ▼ 16 pts below county median

Grade 423%

School 23% · District 25% · ▼ 3 pts below district

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

Grade 522%

School 22% · District 30% · ▼ 7 pts below district

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

Grade 622%

School 22% · District 37% · ▼ 15 pts below district

▼ 32 pts below state median · ▼ 16 pts below county median

Grade 733%

School 33% · District 39% · ▼ 7 pts below district

▼ 24 pts below state median · ▼ 11 pts below county median

Grade 853%

School 53% · District 41% · ▲ 12 pts above district

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

Science

Grade 56%

School 6% · District 14% · ▼ 8 pts below district

▼ 22 pts below state median · ▼ 9 pts below county median

Grade 89%

School 9% · District 6% · ▲ 3 pts above district

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

This schoolPassaic City 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.