School 26, Paterson NJ - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on School 26

School 26 is a regular public elementary and middle school in Paterson, New Jersey, serving pre-kindergarten through eighth grade as part of the Paterson Public School District. The school is located on the east side of the city, and its enrollment is modest for a PK-8 building. The student body is predominantly Hispanic and Black, with a small number of white students and a negligible number from other racial or ethnic groups. Just over half of the students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a measure that points to the economic challenges many families in the community face.

State testing results for the most recent school year show that student performance in math, English language arts, and science is far below state averages, falling in the bottom quartile when compared to other districts in Passaic County on an overall proficiency index. In math, the share of students reaching proficiency was in the single digits across every tested grade from third through eighth, with several grades showing proficiency rates below five percent and one grade recording no proficient students at all. English language arts results were somewhat higher but still low, with the strongest performance coming in eighth grade, where more than a quarter of students met the proficiency bar. In science, the results were similarly weak, with no fifth graders and a very small share of eighth graders scoring proficient. These numbers mean that the vast majority of students at School 26 are not meeting grade-level academic benchmarks, a pattern that a parent considering this school will want to discuss directly with the school and district to understand the instruction and interventions in place.

The school offers no high school grades, so there is no graduation rate to report. Information on special education and English learner populations was not provided, nor were data on discipline, staffing, or chronic absenteeism. These are meaningful gaps for any family trying to assess the full picture of the school’s environment and support systems.

Paterson itself is a dense, historically industrial city that remains a major immigrant destination, with active commercial corridors and a downtown civic core anchored by city and county government. The Paterson Great Falls National Historical Park is a prominent cultural and tourism asset, and the city has been pursuing redevelopment centered on the adaptive reuse of historic mill buildings. The District recently adopted a new strategic plan focused on improving student achievement and post-graduation readiness, and in mid-2025 approved a budget that includes a tax levy increase. These district-level efforts may eventually influence programming and support at School 26, but the school’s current academic results are a clear area of concern for any family making a choice.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 317%

School 17% · District 23% · ▼ 6 pts below district

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

Grade 44%

School 4% · District 20% · ▼ 16 pts below district

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

Grade 52%

School 2% · District 15% · ▼ 14 pts below district

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

Grade 60%

School 0% · District 13% · ▼ 13 pts below district

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

Grade 75%

School 5% · District 14% · ▼ 8 pts below district

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

Grade 89%

School 9% · District 8% · ▲ 1 pts above district

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

English language arts

Grade 39%

School 9% · District 22% · ▼ 14 pts below district

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

Grade 411%

School 11% · District 27% · ▼ 16 pts below district

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

Grade 56%

School 6% · District 24% · ▼ 18 pts below district

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

Grade 623%

School 23% · District 28% · ▼ 5 pts below district

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

Grade 719%

School 19% · District 30% · ▼ 11 pts below district

▼ 39 pts below state median · ▼ 25 pts below county median

Grade 827%

School 27% · District 34% · ▼ 6 pts below district

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

Science

Grade 50%

School 0% · District 10% · ▼ 10 pts below district

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

Grade 82%

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

▼ 11 pts below state median · ▼ 5 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-income7%Higher-income13%7 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income8%Higher-income14%6 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income8%Higher-income0%8 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income19%Higher-income33%15 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income22%Higher-income14%8 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income25%Higher-income30%5 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income13%Higher-income27%14 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income8%Higher-income0%8 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income3%Higher-income0%3 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income0%Higher-income0%0 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income9%Higher-income0%9 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income4%Higher-income15%11 pp gap