School 16, Paterson NJ - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on School 16

School 16 is a regular public school in Paterson, New Jersey, serving students from pre-kindergarten through eighth grade. It is part of the Paterson Public School District, a large urban district that adopted a new five-year strategic plan in 2024 aimed at improving student achievement and post-graduation readiness. The district’s approved budget for the coming year includes the maximum allowable tax levy increase under a state waiver, a move that directly affects local property taxes.

The school’s enrollment is moderate for a PK-8 building. The student body is predominantly Hispanic, with much smaller shares of Black, white, Asian, and multiracial students. A substantial majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting the economic context of the surrounding community. Paterson itself is a dense, historically industrial city that remains a destination for immigrant communities from Latin America, the Middle East, and South Asia. It faces persistent poverty and has been working to revitalize through efforts that include the adaptive reuse of historic mill buildings and the development of the Paterson Great Falls National Historical Park as a cultural anchor.

On state assessments, School 16’s overall proficiency across tested grades and subjects places it in the bottom quartile relative to other districts in Passaic County, based on available comparison data. The school’s test results show considerable variation by grade and subject. In mathematics, proficiency rates are generally low across grades three through eight, with the highest rates occurring in fourth grade and the lowest in fifth grade. English language arts results follow a similar pattern through the elementary grades, but in the upper middle school years there is a notable upward trend. In seventh and eighth grades, proficiency in ELA is solidly above typical performance for this school, and eighth graders achieve a rate that exceeds half of tested students. Science results, tested in fifth and eighth grades, are very low, with only a tiny fraction of students meeting the state’s proficiency threshold. A parent may want to discuss these results directly with the school to understand the instructional context and any support programs in place.

Because School 16 ends at eighth grade, there is no graduation rate to report. Data on chronic absenteeism, special education enrollment, and English learner status were not available in the provided information. The school operates as a regular public school and is not a charter or magnet.

The housing market in Paterson’s zip code has seen modest appreciation, with home values rising year over year. The county-wide housing market has experienced an increase in active listings and new listings, though median listing prices have held fairly steady. Mortgage rates remain elevated relative to recent years, and the national unemployment rate is stable. For families considering this area, the broader economic conditions are typical of many urban centers in the region.

School 16 offers a traditional neighborhood school experience for families in Paterson’s South End, serving children from early childhood through the end of middle school. Its academic profile is mixed, with clear challenges in math and science alongside stronger ELA outcomes in the upper grades. The school’s size and demographics reflect the broader city, and the district is in the early stages of a new strategic planning cycle that may bring changes to curriculum and programming in the coming years.

See more original research from School Decision →

Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 313%

School 13% · District 23% · ▼ 10 pts below district

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

Grade 425%

School 25% · District 20% · ▲ 5 pts above district

▼ 20 pts below state median · ▼ 7 pts below county median

Grade 512%

School 12% · District 15% · ▼ 4 pts below district

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

Grade 620%

School 20% · District 13% · ▲ 7 pts above district

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

Grade 720%

School 20% · District 14% · ▲ 6 pts above district

▼ 15 pts below state median · even with county median

Grade 816%

School 16% · District 8% · ▲ 8 pts above district

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

English language arts

Grade 313%

School 13% · District 22% · ▼ 10 pts below district

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

Grade 424%

School 24% · District 27% · ▼ 3 pts below district

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

Grade 517%

School 17% · District 24% · ▼ 7 pts below district

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

Grade 639%

School 39% · District 28% · ▲ 10 pts above district

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

Grade 739%

School 39% · District 30% · ▲ 9 pts above district

▼ 18 pts below state median · ▼ 5 pts below county median

Grade 850%

School 50% · District 34% · ▲ 17 pts above district

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

Science

Grade 55%

School 5% · District 10% · ▼ 5 pts below district

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

Grade 81%

School 1% · District 4% · ▼ 3 pts below district

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

This schoolPaterson 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 3Lower-income13%Higher-income11%3 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income25%Higher-income24%1 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income16%Higher-income20%5 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income38%Higher-income41%3 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income41%Higher-income29%12 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income51%Higher-income48%3 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income16%Higher-income5%11 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income28%Higher-income21%7 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income9%Higher-income20%11 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income17%Higher-income27%10 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income18%Higher-income25%7 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income17%Higher-income13%4 pp gap