Best Elementary Schools in New Jersey for African American Students

Check out our new feature available only on SchoolDigger: rankings for different groups of students in New Jersey!

Every year, the New Jersey Department of Education shares test results for various student groups in each school. We use these results to find out which schools do best for each group and list them from the best to the worst.

Additionally, we also compare the performance of the subgroup to the performance of the school as a whole. This makes it easy to see if, for example, African American students are overperforming or underperforming their peers in each school.

Year after year, SchoolDigger is always the first to publish New Jersey test scores and rankings. Other sites use stale test score data that are several years old! Be in the know with the very latest performance metrics.

The list is updated annually upon the release of the NJSLA-S and NJSLA test scores by the New Jersey Department of Education. The most recent update was on Wednesday, December 4, 2024.

Be the first to know when we post new test scores and rankings!

School														Students/Teachers											Per Pupil Expenditures (2019)							Ranking (African American vs All Students - 2024)					ID
Rank (of 469)	School	Type	Grades	Address	City	Zip	County	District	Is Charter	Is Magnet	Is Virtual	Is Title I	Phone	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/ Teacher Ratio	Free/Disc Lunch Recipients	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Per Pupil Expenditures: Total	Personnel from Federal Funds	Non-Personnel from Federal Funds	Total from Federal Funds	Personnel from State and Local Funds	Non-Personnel from State and Local Funds	Total from State and Local Funds	Statewide Rank Percentile (African American)	Statewide Rank Percentile (All Students)	Rank Percentile Difference from All Students	SchoolDigger Rating (African American)	SchoolDigger Rating (All Students)	ID
1	School 28	Public	PK, KG-8	200 Presidential Boulevard	Paterson	07522	Passaic County	Paterson Public School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(973) 321-0281	469	39	12.1	75.3%	44 (9.4%)	91 (19.4%)	262 (55.9%)	67 (14.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (1.1%)	$9,579						$9,579	99.8%	99.9%	0.06%			341269004924
2	Pace Charter School of Hamilton	Public, Charter	K-8	52 Lafayette Ave	Trenton	08610	Mercer County	Pace Charter School of Hamilton	Yes	(n/a)	No	Yes	(609) 599-1212	454	35	12.9	74.7%	32 (7.0%)	83 (18.3%)	323 (71.1%)	11 (2.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (1.1%)	$10,730			$685			$10,045	99.6%	69.7%	29.84%			340004200322
3	Soaring Heights Charter School	Public, Charter	K-8	1 Romar Avenue	Jersey City	07305	Hudson County	Soaring Heights Charter School	Yes	(n/a)	No	Yes	(201) 434-4800	273	16	16.7	35.5%	39 (14.3%)	69 (25.3%)	32 (11.7%)	96 (35.2%)	0 (0.0%)	16 (5.9%)	21 (7.7%)	$8,696			$1,133			$7,563	99.4%	91.4%	7.96%			340003600309
4	Thomas Edison EnergySmart Charter School	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	150 Pierce Street	Somerset	08873	Somerset County	Thomas Edison EnergySmart Charter School	Yes	(n/a)	No	Yes	(732) 412-7643	608	37	16.4	12.3%	74 (12.2%)	105 (17.3%)	32 (5.3%)	355 (58.4%)	5 (0.8%)	3 (0.5%)	34 (5.6%)	$7,387			$280			$7,107	99.1%	99.6%	0.48%			340074603143
5	Terence C. Reilly School No 7	Public	2-8	436 First Avenue	Elizabeth	07206	Union County	Elizabeth Public Schools	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(908) 436-6030	1,147	75	15.2	75.4%	92 (8.0%)	170 (14.8%)	837 (73.0%)	43 (3.7%)	1 (0.1%)	4 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	$7,777			$199			$7,578	98.9%	90.2%	8.72%			340459000013
6	Mount Pleasant Elementary School	Public	K-5	9 Manger Road	West Orange	07052	Essex County	West Orange Public Schools	No	(n/a)	No	No	(973) 669-5480	355	33	10.8	32.7%	57 (16.1%)	117 (33.0%)	126 (35.5%)	31 (8.7%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	23 (6.5%)	$12,477						$12,477	98.7%	81.2%	17.55%			341761000182
7	William F. Halloran School No.22	Public	2-8	612 Pulaski Street	Elizabeth	07202	Union County	Elizabeth Public Schools	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(908) 436-4860	1,145	78	14.7	73.6%	135 (11.8%)	144 (12.6%)	837 (73.1%)	28 (2.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$6,924			$188			$6,736	98.5%	85.2%	13.31%			340459005524
8	Middlesex County STEM Charter School	Public, Charter	K-8	613 Carlock Ave	Perth Amboy	08861	Middlesex County	Middlesex County STEM Charter School	Yes	(n/a)	No	Yes	(848) 242-1818	571	31	18.5	65.5%	33 (5.8%)	84 (14.7%)	430 (75.3%)	12 (2.1%)	5 (0.9%)	1 (0.2%)	6 (1.1%)	$8,572			$501			$8,071	98.3%	33.6%	64.74%			340079503451
9	The Gray Charter School	Public, Charter	K-8	55 Liberty Street	Newark	07102	Essex County	Gray Charter School	Yes	(n/a)	No	Yes	(973) 824-6661	339	16	21.1	61.9%	3 (0.9%)	124 (36.6%)	207 (61.1%)	4 (1.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	$9,242			$1,298			$7,944	98.1%	90.3%	7.80%			340006400373
10	Nathaniel Hawthorne Elementary School	Public	K-4	201 Fycke Lane	Teaneck	07666	Bergen County	Teaneck School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(201) 833-5540	324	32	10.1	46.9%	34 (10.5%)	92 (28.4%)	135 (41.7%)	50 (15.4%)	3 (0.9%)	7 (2.2%)	3 (0.9%)	$6,234			$236			$5,998	97.9%	60.5%	37.40%			341608000852

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Other SchoolDigger ranking lists for New Jersey

Elementary Schools Middle Schools High Schools Districts Cities

New! SchoolDigger ranking lists for NJ student subgroups:

Female Students Male Students Asian Students Hispanic Students White Students English Language Learner Students Special Education Students Low Socio Economic Status Students

About our rankings:

Schooldigger calculates school rankings based on NJSLA English Language Arts, NJSLA Mathematics, NJSLA-S Science, NJSLA Algebra I test scores released by the New Jersey Department of Education.
These rankings were last updated on December 4, 2024, and are based on the most recent test scores available. We update rankings as we receive new test scores from the New Jersey Department of Education, usually on a yearly basis.
Our sources of data include the National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education and the New Jersey Department of Education.
For more information about our ranking process, please see our Ranking FAQ. Details about our methodology are here.

Educational resources:

Per-Pupil Spending: Understanding the Breakdown of Federal, State, and Local Funds

Alternative Schools vs Public Schools: A Comparison

SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau and the New Jersey Department of Education.