Original Research by School Decision on Abraham Lincoln School Number 24
Abraham Lincoln School Number 24 serves a single purpose: it is a prekindergarten-only public school in Passaic, New Jersey. The school serves children at the very start of their education and nothing beyond that, which sets sharp boundaries on what any observer can evaluate. Because the grade band is PK through PK, state testing data does not apply here, and there is no graduation rate to report. A parent looking for test scores or high-school outcomes will not find them, because the school was not designed to produce them. The absence of those metrics is not a gap in performance; it is a simple reflection of what the school is.
The student body is small for a public school, all in a single grade level. The demographic picture is concentrated. An overwhelming share of students are Hispanic, a very small number of students are Black, and White, American Indian or Alaska Native, and students of two or more races are present in very small numbers. Nearly every student qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating a high level of economic need. Data on students with disabilities and English learners was not available, so a parent may want to ask the school directly about those populations and the support in place.
The school sits within the Passaic City School District, which operates the city’s elementary, middle, and high schools. The district structure will matter to a family considering Abraham Lincoln Number 24, because this prekindergarten year is a starting point; a child will feed into other district schools for kindergarten and beyond. A parent concerned about the full K-12 pathway should examine those schools, since this one will not be the child's long-term academic home.
Passaic is a densely populated urban city with a strong industrial history. It is one of the most densely settled municipalities in the country for a city of its size. The city’s commercial life has historically centered on Main Avenue, and the presence of an Urban Enterprise Zone supports local retail. A growing Orthodox Jewish community, with a large number of families and a network of yeshivas and kosher establishments, adds a distinct layer to the city’s character. St. Mary’s General Hospital is a notable employer. The city is not a wealthy one; the economic need reflected in the school’s free-lunch rate is consistent with the overall context of the district.
The housing market in Passaic’s ZIP code shows a median home value that sits near the state benchmark and well above the national median. Rents have been rising. The combination of high housing costs and high levels of student economic need suggests that many families renting or buying in the area face a real affordability stretch. For a parent weighing whether to send a child to this prekindergarten, the core decision will be less about the school’s academic reputation, which cannot be measured at this level, and more about what the family needs from an early childhood program: a full-day setting embedded in a neighborhood school, in a city with significant density and a walkable urban fabric. The school’s role is clear and contained. The rest of the picture depends on what happens after the prekindergarten year, and that will be determined by the broader Passaic district.
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